QU Women’s Soccer Overcomes Early Deficit with Three Unanswered to Defeat Saint Peter’s, 3-1

Wednesday, October 26

Hamden, Conn.

2:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

10-6-1, 6-4MAAC

Saint Peter's

1-13-2, 0-9-1MAAC

Saint Peter's

Quinnipiac

QU Women’s Soccer Overcomes Early Deficit with Three Unanswered to Defeat Saint Peter’s, 3-1

10/26/2016 6:29:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Bobcats Clinch #4 Seed in MAAC Tournament, Will Host #5 Canisius on Saturday in Quarterfinal Game

By: QU Sports Information

HAMDEN, Connecticut – The Quinnipiac women's soccer team pumped in three unanswered goals to stave off an early Saint Peter's marker to defeat the Peacocks, 3-1, on Wednesday afternoon from the QU Soccer Field. The Bobcats finish the 2016 regular season with a 10-6-1 overall mark, 6-4 record in the MAAC and 8-0 at home. Quinnipiac has officially earned the No. 4 seed in the MAAC Tournament and will host No. 5 Canisius on Saturday in the quarterfinal round with the kickoff time to be determined.

Head coach Dave Clarke leads the Bobcats into the MAAC Tournament for the first time in a non-automatic qualifying season since joining the league in 2013. This also marks the first time Quinnipiac has advanced into the conference postseason tournament since 2010 when the Bobcats were a member of the Northeast Conference. Saturday's upcoming home playoff game marks the program's first-ever postseason match played in Hamden.

The 10-win season for the Bobcats already stands as the fourth-most in a single-season since Quinnipiac joined the NCAA Div. I ranks in 1998. This does mark the first double-digit win season in the program's history since a 12-6 campaign back in 2001.

Coming in with a mark of 0-3-1 in games in which the opposition has scored first, the Bobcats needed to overcome a season-long struggle in the win as Alexandria Couto put the Peacocks on the board first in the 10^th minute of play. Nicole Rodriguez flicked an overhead pass that skied over the Bobcat midfield to Couto. She then headed the ball to herself, creating a mini breakaway which she turned into 1-0 lead for Saint Peter's.

Despite the lopsided advantage in terms of shots (10-2 in first half, 25-7 for the game), the Peacock defense held steady for large parts of the first stanza only to unravel in the 31^st minute. Jess Gargan (Dublin, Ireland) sent a ball from the wing to Ally Grunstein (Warren, New Jersey) just outside the box. She one-touched and quickly fired a ball towards the far post where Jess Fontaine (Enfield, Connecticut) was waiting. As the Peacock keeper retreated back post, Fontaine came across her and flicked her shot to the opposite side to equalize, 1-1, heading into halftime.

A couple of key saves in the first five minutes of the second half kept the game tied as keeper Devan Malcolm (Natick, Massachusetts) came up with a pair of saves just one minute apart while Jess Cascio (Hebron, Connecticut) saved a Couto shot off the line to preserve the 1-1 score.

The pair of missed opportunities for the Peacocks led to an onslaught of scoring chances for the Bobcats as Sarah Pandolfi (North Haven, Connecticut) hit the crossbar from distance before the ultimate game-winning tally came in the 67^th minute. Kelly Caruso (Rocky Hill, Connecticut) stepped up to take the free kick from 30 yards out which she lofted to the far post. Madison Borowiec (Windsor, Connecticut) stepped in front of a Saint Peter's defender to flick a header towards major traffic in front. Fontaine missed her shot attempt but Kylie Lance (Stow, Massachusetts) was there to slam home her first career goal to put the Bobcats out front, 2-1.

Shots continued to pour in as the Bobcats fired 12 shots over a matter of 25 minutes, eventually resulting in an insurance marker from Gargan. As Saint Peter's attempted to clear, Gargan stepped in front of the pass and sent a through-ball to Grunstein up the right wing. The freshman used her elite speed to track down the pass, one-touched to the end line and fired in a cross near post. Gargan's run from the midfield was a good one as she landed on the finishing end of the Grunstein cross to poke home her first goal of 2016 while Grunstein tallied her second assist of the game.

Malcolm took the win in net for the Bobcats as she made three saves on the afternoon to move her overall record to 3-2.

Quinnipiac advances to the MAAC Tournament where they will face the No. 5 seed Canisius on Saturday. Their lone meeting in 2016 came back on Oct. 8 in Hamden as the Bobcats dispatched the Golden Griffins, 3-0, with three goals coming just 2:27 apart in the second half. Al Pelletier, Nadya Gill and Madison Borowiec pumped in the goals for Quinnipiac while Olivia Myszewski and Malcolm combined for the two-save shutout in net.