QU Men's Soccer Drops Home Contest to Holy Cross, 3-1

Wednesday, September 16

Hamden, CT

4 pm

Quinnipiac University

0-3-1

Holy Cross

1-2-2

Holy Cross

Quinnipiac

QU Men's Soccer Drops Home Contest to Holy Cross, 3-1

9/16/2015 7:25:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

HAMDEN, Conn. – After a hard, physical, battle and missed opportunities on both sides of the ball, the Quinnipiac men's soccer team suffered its second home loss of the season on Wednesday afternoon. Sophomore John-John Diaz (Miami, Florida) scored his first career goal to cut the Crusader lead to one, but a late goal propelled Holy Cross to a 3-1 victory at the QU Soccer Field.

Neither side was able to score in the opening 45 minutes, but both squads had several great looks at the net. In the 12^th minute, a Crusader received the ball inside the box and fired a low strike on net, but junior goalkeeper Triston Henry (Scarborough, Ontario) was there for the stop. After the save, the rebound kicked out to the feet of another Crusader just eight yards away, Henry's quick reaction led to a beautiful kick save to keep the game scoreless.

About four minutes later, freshman forward Rashawn Dally (Bloomfield, Connecticut) flicked a pass off his back heel and found the foot of freshman Matt Taylor (Dublin, Ireland) with a great opportunity at an early goal. Looking to place the ball out of reach of the keeper, Taylor sent the ball just wide of the net.

With about 10 minutes remaining in the half, Dally took a touch and beat a couple defenders with his speed, but the keeper came out of net and stuffed the attempt with a kick save.

In the second half, the Crusaders jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 60^th minute. Diego Ceron created the Holy Cross opportunity after splitting a couple Bobcat defenders and feeding Nicholas Cestaro as Henry came out for the initial challenge. Cestaro took a couple dribbles in space and put Holy Cross on top with the open goal.

After back-to-back diving saves by Henry, the Crusaders then took a 2-0 advantage in the 70^th minute. Senior Tobias Esche (Bremen, Germany) was carded in the box after a tackle and attempt on the ball, but the call ultimately led to a Holy Cross penalty kick. Justin Carfora slammed it left as Henry dove right.

Two minutes later, Quinnipiac crept to within one with their second goal of the season. Max Rothenbucher (Munich, Germany) sent a cross into the box and senior Justin Kody managed to get a head on the ball, sending it to the lower right side of the box. Diaz let the ball bounce once and fired it to the opposite side of the net for the goal. Kody was credited with the assist for the first of his career.

Holy Cross closed out the game with an insurance goal with just 35 seconds remaining.

Henry tallied six saves in net while his counterpart recorded three. The Crusaders outshot Quinnipiac, 12-9, in the game.

The Bobcats return to action on Saturday, September 19 for a matchup with interstate rival, the Yale Bulldogs. Quinnipiac will travel to New Haven to take on the Bulldogs at Reese Stadium at 7 p.m. QU defeated Yale last season, 1-0, in a thrilling overtime victory.