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<\/p>\nQuinnipiac\u2019s goalie Felicia Frank, left, sticks out of her right pad to stop Yale\u2019s Hannah Weyerhaeuser during Saturday\u2019s ECAC championship game at the 1980 Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid. (Enterprise photo \u2013 Parker O\u2019Brien)<\/p>\n
LAKE PLACID \u2013 Quinnipiac\u2019s Mia Lopata walked into her ECAC women\u2019s hockey tournament press conference at the Olympic Center on Saturday and plopped down the championship trophy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t lose in this building,\u201d she said, with a smile.<\/p>\n
She really doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
The Clinton native captained the Bobcats to the conference title, defeating the Yale Bulldogs 5-1 in the first-ever ECAC women\u2019s hockey championship held at the 1980 Herb Brooks Arena.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s nearly identical to how Lopata left the ice the last time she was here, when she guided her Clinton High School girls\u2019 hockey team to a NYSPHSAA state championship more than six years ago.<\/p>\n
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The Quinnipiac women\u2019s hockey team smiles after winning the women\u2019s ECAC title on Saturday in Lake Placid. (Enterprise photo \u2013 Parker O\u2019Brien)<\/p>\n
\u201cIn all seriousness, it\u2019s such a full circle moment for my hockey career,\u201d said Lopata, now a graduate student with Quinnipiac.\u2029\u201dIf you had told me when I was in high school that I was gonna win an ECAC championship here, I don\u2019t know that I would have believed you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Well, it\u2019s now a reality.<\/p>\n
The tournament\u2019s third-seeded Bobcats secured their second-ever ECAC title and their first since 2016. They did so, following a dominating effort from its goaltender, Felicia Frank, who stopped 31 shots while earning the tournament\u2019s most outstanding player award. <\/p>\n
Ella Johnson scored twice, while Avery Bairos, Zoe Uens and Emerson Jarvis also scored for Quinnipiac, which improved to 28-8-3 overall and locked up the automatic berth to the NCAA Division I tournament. Makayla Watson added two assists.<\/p>\n
Mariya Rauf scored Yale\u2019s lone goal. She made a slick move past Frank, after collecting a pass from Jordan Ray in front of the net to cut the Bobcats\u2019 lead to 3-1 early in the third period. Samson Frey stopped 22 shots in the net for the Bulldogs, while Molly Boyle also picked up an assist in the \u201cdisappointing\u201d loss.<\/p>\n
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Quinnipiac\u2019s Emerson Jarvis and Yale\u2019s Gracie Gilkyson get tangled up during Saturday\u2019s ECAC Championship game in Lake Placid. (Enterprise photo \u2013 Parker O\u2019Brien)<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not how you draw it up when you dream about getting up on championship day,\u201d Yale head coach Mark Bolding said. \u201cBut we\u2019re proud of our team. We\u2019re a heck of a team, but we\u2019re not done playing hockey.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bulldogs entered Saturday\u2019s title game, having scored at least one goal in each of their last nine periods \u2013 including their 7-2 rout over Cornell in Friday\u2019s semifinal game. The team\u2019s high-powered offense came from hard pressure in the neutral zone, leading to a solid forecheck.<\/p>\n
It forced the Bobcats to go back to the basics, Quinnipiac head coach Cassandra Turner said. Get pucks in, and get pucks out.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had some moments where it was hard to do that,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I thought that we were consistent enough with it, that it honestly really allowed us to play to our strengths. It gave us some opportunities to use our speed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson opened the scoring with a breakaway goal early in the first period, after taking advantage of aggressive play by a Yale defender and skating past her. <\/p>\n
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Quinnipiac\u2019s Mia Lopata hoists the ECAC championship trophy on Saturday in Lake Placid. (Enterprise photo \u2013 Parker O\u2019Brien)<\/p>\n
The Bobcats then took firm control of the contest, with goals in the second and third periods, to push the lead to 3-0. Bairos first tipped in a shot in the second period, before Uens buried a one-timer in the third. Jarvis and Johnson scored empty-netters at the end of the final period.<\/p>\n
As the buzzer sounded and celebrations started, Turner told herself one thing: \u201cDon\u2019t cry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so hard to get here, let alone win this game,\u201d she said. \u201cOur league is a gauntlet. It\u2019s so challenging. To get all the pieces together, to get to this place and then to execute and build on the semis and win the final. It\u2019s hard, it\u2019s really hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
It really is, that\u2019s why it\u2019s taken the Bobcats a decade to win another ECAC championship. Turner, who coached the 2016 team, said some of her former players had already reached out to congratulate her.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the girls from the 2016 team were, like, \u2018I\u2019m gonna name my first child, Jarvis,\u2019 or \u2018I\u2019m going to name my second child, Frank,’\u201d she said. \u201cThey are totally 2 feet into this, too. I think that\u2019s what this is all about to me. This is your job, your life and a career, but these women are my family.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Quinnipiac\u2019s Jade Barbirati shows off her champion’s hat after beating Yale in the women\u2019s ECAC title on Saturday in Lake Placid. (Enterprise photo \u2013 Parker O\u2019Brien)<\/p>\n
Lopata said winning the conference title is a testament to how far the program has come in 10 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so excited that we made it happen again,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
But she had no doubt they would get it done in Lake Placid.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore the game started, I was like, \u2018Oh, we\u2019re gonna win,’\u201d she said. \u201cHonestly, before I even came here, I got my nails done. I was so excited. I was like \u2018My nails need to be done when I lift that trophy.’\u201d<\/p>\n
Her confidence resonated with the team. It\u2019s not hard to see why, with her goaltender, turning away shot after shot.<\/p>\n
And seemingly every time, the Swedish goaltender delivered. It\u2019s why her teammates described her as the heart and soul of the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s played every single game and backstopped us to some incredible wins,\u201d Watson said. \u201cWe\u2019re so lucky to have her. She just keeps getting better every day. She pushes her teammates, and she\u2019s also just so calm back there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yale finished with a 32-27 advantage in shots.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a lot of great chances,\u201d Bolding said.\u2029\u201dSo, what do you do now? You use this for motivation. It\u2019s one game we\u2019ve been on a hot streak. We could turn rhubarb into a pie and do something with it because we\u2019re playing next week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Up next, Quinnipiac will compete in the opening round of the NCAA tournament against the Franklin Pierce University Ravens at 8 p.m. on Thursday in Madison, Wisconsin. Yale will take on the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs in their first round at 6 p.m. on Thursday in Columbus, Ohio.<\/p>\n
The Princeton Tigers, which suffered a 2-1 overtime loss to the Bobcats in Friday\u2019s other semifinal, will face the UConn Huskies at 7 p.m. on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA tournament in State College, Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
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LAKE CLEAR \u2013 CAVU Cafe is closing on March 22, and Harrietstown is seeking people interested in operating a new …<\/p>\n
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