QU Men's Soccer Travels To Monmouth Saturday

Saturday, October 10

Hesse Field on The Great Lawn - West Long Branch, N.J.

7 pm

Quinnipiac University

Monmouth

10/8/2015 11:42:00 AM | Men's Soccer

By: QU Sports Information

Quinnipiac University (0-6-4, 0-1-2 MAAC) vs

Monmouth University (7-3-2, 3-0-1 MAAC)
Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015 • 7 PM
Hesse Field on the Great Lawn • West Long Branch, N.J.
All-Time Series vs. Monmouth: 4-12-3
Last Meeting: T 0-0 (Oct. 18, 2014)

BOBCATS FACE MAAC CO-LEADERS (AGAIN)
The Quinnipiac men's soccer team is coming off a 1-1 tie with MAAC co-leading Marist on Wednesday, and heads to the road to face the other MAAC co-leader on Saturday when it meets up with Monmouth on Saturday in West Long Branch, New Jersey. Monmouth tied Rider on Wednesday to move to 3-0-1 on the year in MAAC play, leaving it in a two-way tie with Marist after the Red Foxes moved to 3-0-1 with the tie against Quinnipiac.

LOOKING TO CONTINUE NEW STREAK
Quinnipiac had a 17-game unbeaten streak against MAAC opponents (including 14 MAAC contests and three MAAC Tournament games) snapped when it fell 2-0 to Saint Peter's at home on Saturday, Sept. 26. The Bobcats were 10-0-7 overall against league foes since their last defeat, at Monmouth on Oct. 23, 2013, which had been the only loss the program had suffered as a MAAC member. Dating back to their final year in the NEC, the Bobcats are 20-2-11 in their last 33 games against conference opponents, including 20-2-6 in the regular season (all four postseason games in that span have been ties decided on penalty kicks). Quinnipiac has tied its last two games 1-1 since the Saint Peter's defeat (at Niagara, and home against Marist),

LAST TIME OUT
The Bobcats earned a 1-1 tie with Marist on Wednesday at QU Soccer Field. Quinnipiac took the lead 1-0 in the waning moments of the first half, as Ryan Scheiderman got in behind the Red Fox defense and took a through ball from freshman forward Rashawn Dally. Scheiderman gathered in the pass inside the box and tucked a low shot into the net to give the Bobcats a 1-0 lead with just 25 seconds left in the half. Marist got the equalizer 11:03 into the second half with a diving header off a free kick, and Quinnipiac had its best chance to take the lead with 20 minutes left when Tanor Jobe had his six-yard shot barely tipped over the bar. Junior goalie Triston Henry finished with three saves for the Bobcats.

SCOUTING MONMOUTH
The Hawks are currently on a nine-game unbeaten streak (7-0-2) since an 0-3 start and boast a balanced offense with 10 different players accounting for their 20 goals this season. Colin Stripling leads the way with four goals and four assists for 12 points, while Dave Nigro is second with three goals and John Egan has a team-best five assists. Monmouth is stingy defensively with only nine goals allowed in 12 games, as goalie Eric Klenofsky has a 0.72 goals against average and an .833 save percentage, to go along with six shutouts. The Hawks have allowed only three goals over their current nine-game unbeaten streak.

THE THORN IN THEIR PAW
Monmouth, which joined Quinnipiac in moving from the NEC to the MAAC in 2013, gave the Bobcats their only two conference losses in a span of three years (an NEC loss in 2012 and a MAAC loss in 2013). Against everyone else, Quinnipiac was 22-0-5 in conference play since the start of the 2012 season, but 0-2-1 against Monmouth. Including the conference tournament, the Bobcats were 0-2-2 against Monmouth in the last three years and 22-0-8 against everyone else.

LAST YEAR'S MEETING
Quinnipiac and Monmouth battled to a 0-0 tie a year ago in Hamden on a rainy, windy day. The Bobcats had the better of play, finishing with a 14-6 edge in shots and a 6-3 advantage in corner kicks, but put only two of their 16 shots on target. Graduated goalkeeper Borja Angoitia had three saves to get the shutout for Quinnipiac, the 21st in his career, moving him one shy of the school record he would eventually break.

FOUR-SHADOWING?
The Bobcats compiled an 0-5-2 record against a difficult non-conference schedule, which included Boston College, Connecticut and Saint John's. The slow start is not necessarily a bad omen, though, Quinnipiac started 2-4-1 in 2012, 1-3-3 in 2013 and 1-4-1 in 2014, before going on to win all three regular season conference titles (with a combined 22-2-6 league record).

MAGIC NUMBER TWO
Five upperclassmen on the Bobcats have scored their second career goals in the last three weeks. In a game against Holy Cross on Sept. 12, sophomore John-John Diaz found the net for the second time in his career (his first came against Saint Peter's last year). Against Yale on Sept. 19, senior Tobias Esche and junior Ryan Scheiderman both scored their second career goals. Esche slammed home a penalty kick for the Bobcats first goal while Scheiderman scored in traffic inside the box with 20 seconds remaining. On Sept. 22 at St. John's, senior Justin Kody found the net for the second time in his career when he headed in a cross in the opening half of a 1-1 tie. Finally, sophomore Max Rothenbucher joined the two-goal club on Saturday when he blasted in a 30-yard shot in the first half against Niagara.

DALLY'S FIRST TALLY
Freshman forward Rashawn Dally cored his first career goal in a 2-1 loss at Holy Cross on Sept. 12. Dally received the ball in open space and fired a strike through the keeper's legs for the score. The goal also marked the first of the season for Quinnipiac, which was shut out in its first three games (by Boston College, Connecticut and Brown).

CAREER HIGH
Junior goalie Triston Henry, in his first season with Quinnipiac, registered a career high 12 saves in a loss to Brown on Sept. 4. The Bobcat goalkeeper stopped five shots in the first half before tallying seven more in the second frame. He now has 39 saves on the year in the first 10 contests, including six in a shutout against against his former team (Connecticut) on Aug. 31.

FRESH FACES
Three Bobcats made their first career starts for Quinnipiac in the season opener against Boston College. Junior goalkeeper Triston Henry, freshman midfielder Oscar Evans, and freshman forward Rashawn Dally all made their debuts in the starting lineup. Fellow freshman Matt Taylor missed that contest, but has since moved into the starting lineup to give the Bobcats four new faces in the regular 11.

FIRST GAME JITTERS
After falling to Boston College 1-0 on opening day, the Bobcats have now lost their season opener for the sixth consecutive year. The last time they did not fall in the first game came on September 5, 2009 in a 1-1 tie against Yale.

BOBCATS SECOND IN MAAC PRESEASON POLL
The Bobcats were selected second in the MAAC's preseason poll with Monmouth taking the top spot. In 2014, Quinnipiac went undefeated in the MAAC regular season earning the title of MAAC Regular Season Champions for the second year in a row, and return 19 letter winners from last year.

MAAC PRESEASON COACHES' POLL
1.         Monmouth (111)
2.         Quinnipiac (95)
T3. Iona (87)
T3. Rider (87)
4.         Fairfield (83)
5.         Siena (77)
6.         Canisius (52)
7.         Marist (44)
8.         Manhattan (39)
9.         Saint Peter's (26)
10. Niagara (25)

DA COSTA REIGNING MAAC COACH OF YEAR
Quinnipiac's Eric Da Costa was recognized last season as the 2014 MAAC Coach of the year after leading the Bobcats to a 7-0-3 conference record. Now entering his eleventh season at the helm, Da Costa has helped Quinnipiac capture its last three regular season championships (two in the MAAC, one in the NEC).

THREE'S COMPANY
The Bobcats return three All-MAAC selections from last season's team, senior Tobias Esche, junior James Doig, and sophomore Shaquille Huggins. Esche returns to anchor the Quinnipiac defense which ranked second in GAA (0.56), and goals allowed (6), while also ranking third in shutouts (5). Doig earned his second All-MAAC honor after earning the honor as a freshman. As a sophomore, Doig led Quinnipiac in assists (6) while adding ten points and two goals. Huggins earned a spot on the All-MAAC Rookie Team after for his strong play and being a key player in the Quinnipiac midfield offensive attack.

LOOKING AHEAD
Quinnipiac is next in action when it travels to New Jersey to face the other MAAC co-leader (Monmouth) on Saturday at 7 p.m.

FOLLOW THE BOBCATS
Fans can follow Quinnipiac men's soccer and all of the Quinnipiac teams on QuinnipiacBobcats.com or on twitter at QUAthletics. You can also follow Quinnipiac men's soccer on Twitter at QU_MSOC