
By Kaitlyn Grady, Tyler Platz and Mike King
For the second season in a row, the Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey team failed to reach the NCAA Tournament, with its ECAC Tournament run ending in the three-game quarterfinal series against Clarkson.
Despite strong defensive play, the Bobcats’ offense struggled to keep up with opponents throughout the season, culminating in another disappointing playoff performance. With key contributors departing this offseason, questions loom as this team looks ahead to the 2025-26 season.
Putting points on the board
A major issue for the 2024-25 Bobcats was their scoring, or lack thereof. In games where opponents scored at least two goals, not once were the Bobcats able to come out on top. That stat would be less pressing if they were getting blown out, but failing to score more than two goals consistently is a problem.
There’s nothing wrong with playing a defensive game, but when a team can’t match its opponent’s scoring output, that spells trouble. That trouble caught up with them and is one of the main reasons the Bobcats are watching the NCAA Tournament from home.
Last season, after an Oct. 20 1-0 victory over Brown, Turner recognized the lack of production early in the season and highlighted the need to “score early.”
“They want to get the first goal of the game, that is huge for them and it’s something that they talk about,” Turner said. “The more you think about scoring, the less you’re going to score. It’s about pulling the pieces together that are going to help us create scoring chances and building from one to the next.”
This message seemed to resonate with the team last year, but not so much this time around.
Heavy reliance on the defensive side of the game
The Bobcats’ strength was its defense. They relied on winning low scoring games and had trouble against some of the top scoring teams. The Bobcats ranked 14th in the nation in goals scored on the season with 97, and ranked eighth in the ECAC. This is a stark contrast from last season, where the Bobcats finished sixth in the nation with 134 goals scored, almost 40 goals more than they were able to put in the back of the net this season. This is also the fewest goals they have scored in a season since the 2018 season, where they scored 73. However, Colgate, Cornell, Princeton and Clarkson all ranked ahead of the Bobcats in goals scored this season. The Bobcats’ combined record against these teams was 2-7-1.
The Bobcats struggled to beat teams that score more efficiently than they do, always having to rely on their defense to win. One area where the Bobcats excelled this season was on the penalty kill. The Bobcats ranked fourth in the country in penalty kill percentage. However, they only ranked 27th on power play percentage this season.
Playoff woes continue under Cassandra Turner
Once again Quinnipiac fell short of winning the ECAC tournament. For the second straight season, Quinnipiac women’s hockey had their season come to an end in the quarterfinals of the ECAC tournament. The Bobcats’ loss to Clarkson in the quarterfinals ended their season. They likely needed to win the ECAC tournament to get in or have a close loss in the finals to qualify because of how they struggled against top teams this season.
With their season coming to an end, a hard internal look at the program must take place to understand how the Bobcats can improve from here. Head coach Cassanda Turner has been behind the bench for 10 seasons. In those 10 seasons, Turner has led the Bobcats to multiple NCAA tournament appearances, but has also been at the helm during many seasons where the Bobcats could not win big games. The Bobcats have yet to reach the Frozen Four under Turner, and as they look ahead to next season, timely wins will certainly be an emphasis again for Turner and the Bobcats.
What’s next?
With four of Quinnipiac’s top five point-getters set to graduate (Maya Labad – 27 points, Kendall Cooper – 26, Maddy Samoskevich – 22 and Jenna Donohue – 19), Quinnipiac will look to fill those spots around sophomore forward Kahlen Lamarche, who led the team with 14 goals and 19 assists this season.
A potential suitor to take on a bigger role in the points department is freshman forward Bryn Prier. She finished this season with eight goals and eight assists as well as a +16 plus-minus. In a Feb. 14 game against RPI, Prier had a hat trick and an assist on a Lamarche goal, culminating in a four point night. If Prier and Lamarche develop strong chemistry, it might suit the Bobcats well to pair them on a line moving forward into next season.
Alongside her, expect first-year defenseman Makayla Watson to contribute more to the offense next season. She finished the campaign tied for third on the team in assists with 12. With Watson, who suited up in all 38 games this season, able to grow into a bigger role for next winter, expect her to increase her numbers as she’s able to freely dish the puck to her teammates.
Besides point production, the other area of this team with underclassmen waiting in the wings is goaltending. With graduate Kaley Doyle’s departure, freshman Felicia Frank will likely get the nod in net next season. In limited appearances between the pipes in 2024-25, Frank showed that she can hold the back end down in the form of four shutouts.
If it isn’t Frank, Quinnipiac will have to look to find a more polished and experienced netminder in the transfer portal. In recent history, the Bobcats have favored an older goaltender to lead the team, with Doyle and former Quinnipiac goalies Logan Angers and Corrine Schroeder being examples of this.
The defensive side of Quinnipiac’s team is overshadowed by the lack of offense, but both will have to improve in the 2025-26 season if the Bobcats hope to compete with more balanced teams in the regular season.
Since the 2021-22 season, it has consistently finished in the top five of the conference – including fourth in 2022, third in 2023 and fifth in 2024 and 2025 – but have yet to translate that success into a deep postseason run. Overcoming that will be a determining factor in the Bobcats pushing themselves over the top in search of an ECAC championship.
“We’re going to continue to dive in and stay in the fight and be in a position where you look to figure our best hockey at the end of the season,” Turner said.