QU Men's Soccer Plays To Second Straight Scoreless Tie

Saturday, October 24

Hamden, CT

2 pm

Quinnipiac University

1-8-6, 1-3-4MAAC

Iona

9-6-2, 5-3-1MAAC

Team	1	2	OT 3	OT 4	Final F
Iona	0	0	0	0	0
Quinnipiac	0	0	0	0	0

QU Men's Soccer Plays To Second Straight Scoreless Tie

10/24/2015 5:38:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

By: QU Sports Information

Hamden, Conn. - The Quinnipiac men's soccer team honored its nine seniors prior to the game, including three of its regular starting defenders, and played to a 0-0 tie with Iona in its home finale on Saturday afternoon at QU Soccer Field.

With the tie, Quinnipiac moves to 1-8-6 overall on the season and 1-3-4 in the MAAC after its second straight scoreless tie this week (the Bobcats also drew Fairfield 0-0 on Wednesday). Iona sees its record move to 9-6-2 overall and 5-3-1 in conference play.

The Bobcats held a 21-4 edge in shots for the game, after Iona was forced to play down a man after the 24th minute due to a red card. Junior goalie Triston Henry did not have to make a save to record the shutout for Quinnipiac, while his counterpart, Julian Petrello, had six saves for the Gaels.

Petrello came up particularly big on two occasions, sprawling for a near-post save on a 15-yard rocket from senior midfielder James Greco (Long Valley, N.J.) with around 20 minutes to play. Then, in the first overtime, he came off his line on a scramble in front of the net and deflected a shot from junior defender Mikail Ellis (San Fernando, Trinidad) with his face to keep it out of net. Ellis also had a good effort off a corner kick with just over 10 seconds remaining in regulation that was nearly a dramatic game-winner.

"That's been the story of our season," said Head Coach Eric Da Costa. "The ball is about 12 inches wide, and the goal line is about four inches wide, and it has just been that final touch to get the 12-inch ball over the four-inch line. It's been a source of frustration for us all year long. But it wasn't for lack of effort or lack of passion. We were getting the ball out wide, serving great crosses, and we just weren't getting the final touch."

At the other end, the Bobcats needed to withstand a couple of challenges. After back-to-back fouls gave Iona a free kick from just outside the box with five minutes left in regulation, junior forward Ryan Scheiderman (Brick, N.J.) held his ground in the wall and took a direct hit off the midsection. Then in overtime, a quick Bobcat turnover nearly left the net momentarily exposed, but Henry retreated back to watch a shot from Iona's Luis Mendoza sail wide.

The nine Quinnipiac seniors played their final regular season home game after being a part of a program that has lost only five conference games in four seasons. Stevenson Hawkey (Pennington, N.J.), Tobias Esche (Bremen, Germany) and Erik Panzer (Nelson, New Zealand) have been mainstays on the team's defensive unit for the last three years and have started every game this season. Greco, Tanor Jobe (Uxbridge, Mass.), Nick Laszewicz (Southbury, Conn.), Joe Da Graca (Shelton, Conn.), Simon Brossier (Jallais, France), and Justin Kody (Northborough, Mass.) have all had big impacts on the program as well.

"You can always replace players, but you can't replace people," said Da Costa. "These guys have meant everything to our program and there's really no way we'll be able to replace them. Only losing five league games in four years is an amazing run of success, and to be a part of the first regular season conference title, the first postseason conference title, and the first NCAA bid is something that I hope they can always take with them."

Quinnipiac will close out the regular season with two road games this week, traveling to Siena on Wednesday and Rider on Saturday, and will then move on to the MAAC Tournament in Kissimmee, Florida from Nov. 5-9.