QU Women’s Soccer Suffers First Defeat of 2015 in 2-1 Loss to New Hampshire

Friday, September 4

Virtue Field - Burlington, Vt.

1:30 pm

Quinnipiac University

2-1-0

New Hampshire

2-1-2

Quinnipiac

UNH

Photo by: Quinnipiac Athletics

QU Women’s Soccer Suffers First Defeat of 2015 in 2-1 Loss to New Hampshire

9/4/2015 3:31:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: QU Sports Information

Photos of QU vs. UNH

BURLINGTON, Vermont – A furious second half rally effort from the Quinnipiac women's soccer team came up just short on Friday afternoon as the Bobcats fell to New Hampshire, 2-1, in day one of the TD Bank Classic from the campus of the University of Vermont. Quinnipiac's first defeat of 2015 moves the Bobcats' record to 2-1 while the reigning America East Champion Wildcats improve to 2-1-2 on the season.

"This was our best performance of the season and we were unlucky not to get a result," said Quinnipiac head coach Dave Clarke. "We scored an own goal, conceded an unfortunate second and were without a number of players but still managed to make a game of it."

Trailing 2-0 with just over 30 minutes to play, Quinnipiac shifted into full attack mode and nearly sent the game into overtime. Five of the Bobcats' 11 total attempted shots and two of their four corners on the afternoon came in the time afternoon New Hampshire went ahead two goals.

Jessica Fontaine (Enfield, Connecticut) was the Bobcat who broke through as she was on the receiving end of a perfectly placed cross from Ashley Wendland (Hamden, Connecticut) to cut the deficit to just one with a little under 20 minutes to play. The goal developed off a free kick in which Jess Gargan (Dublin, Ireland), instead of attempting to center, passed back to Wendland who had a much better angle for the pass. Wendland's ball was hit perfectly and Fontaine knew what to do with it as her header found the back of the net.

"It took us a while to get into the game," Fontaine said. "However, in the second half we pushed forward and created a few great opportunities. We worked well as a team and worked for each other but we came up a bit unlucky and the result didn't go our way. It was a good test and now we know what we need to improve on before we play our conference games."

Fontaine's goal was her first of the season and seventh of her career. Appearing in her 30^th career game, Wendland's assist was the first of her career while Gargan now holds the team-lead in assists with two on the season.

Now down just one on the scoreboard, Quinnipiac kept bringing the pressure as Gargan's free kick from 30 yards out sailed just high of the New Hampshire net.
With time beginning to become a factor, the Bobcats were gifted a golden scoring chance in the box with just over one minute remaining. A centering attempt from the near sideline caromed off Fontaine's head and landed at the feet of Gargan who was left open after shaking off a Wildcat defender. With very little time to set up her shot, Gargan fired the potential equalizer at the cage but the ball sailed just feet over the crossbar.

"We showed a lot of character to pull a goal back and to be honest deserved to take the game to overtime," Clarke said. "Our work rate in the second half was very good, but luck was not on our side. We outshot the America East Champion and had more corners so lots to build on. We need to eliminate the mistakes in key phases of our play so we don't have to chase the game. If we do we will turn in a complete 90 minute performance and be difficult to beat."

Natalia Grodzki (Bartlett, Illinois) took the hard luck loss for Quinnipiac as she made three saves in net for the Bobcats.

The Wildcats built their two-goal lead in large part thanks to the efforts of their sophomore forward Brooke Murphy who had a hand in both UNH goals on the afternoon.

The first goal came just 8:13 into play as Murphy collected a pass just on the outside of the box and dribbled right to set up her shot. Murphy took aim at the far side corner of the net, which Grodzki picked up on, but the ball deflected off a Bobcat defender and changed direction to the near-side post on a shot that Grodzki had no chance at stopping.

Early in the second half, Murphy again factored on a UNH goal as her free kick from 25 yards out was initially stopped by Grodzki but the rebound was left for Kelsey Pratt who punched home the loose ball in front.

Looking to start 3-0 for the first time since 2012, Quinnipiac had a tough out as the Bobcats faced off against the 2014 America East Champs in what was also the first all-time meeting between these two regional sides.
Quinnipiac continues play at the 15^th annual TD Bank Classic on Sunday, Sept. 6 as the Bobcats will take on the host Vermont Catamounts at 1:30 PM.