Senior Half Flurry Powers QU Women’s Soccer Past Canisius on Senior Day, 3-0

Saturday, October 8

Hamden, Conn.

1:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

4-28-4-1. MAAC

Canisius (Senior Day)

5-6, 3-2MAAC

Canisius

Quinnipiac

Senior Half Flurry Powers QU Women’s Soccer Past Canisius on Senior Day, 3-0

10/8/2016 5:12:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Bobcats Remain Unbeaten at Home (6-0), Record Third Straight Clean Sheet

By: QU Sports Information

HAMDEN, Connecticut – The script quite simply could not have been written better for the Quinnipiac women's soccer senior class on Saturday as a three-goal second half outburst powered the Bobcats past Canisius, 3-0, on Senior Day at the QU Soccer Field. The fourth straight win for Quinnipiac makes the Bobcats 8-4-1 overall and 4-2 in the MAAC while the Golden Griffins' record drops to 5-6 and 3-2 in conference play.

Significant on many levels, Saturday's victory for Quinnipiac is the Bobcats' fourth straight win, sixth straight at home and third straight clean sheet. The lone remaining unbeaten team at home in the MAAC at 6-0, Quinnipiac starts a season with a six-game win streak at home for just the second time in program history. The only other year the Bobcats started a season 6-0 at home came back in Dave Clarke's first season at Quinnipiac in 1999 where his team went 11-0.

The three-game shutout span is the longest such streak since the 2012 season while the current scoreless streak of 296:47 ranks as the longest since the 2007 season where Quinnipiac pitched a shutout in 345:26 consecutive minutes.

Goals came in many ways from many different directions but all over a span of just 2:27 as the Bobcats exploded for a three-goal span early in the second half to put the game away. Al Pelletier (Cheshire, Connecticut), Nadya Gill (Toronto, Ontario) and Madison Borowiec (Windsor, Connecticut) all scored for the Bobcats while five different players tallied at least one assist.

Jess Fontaine (Enfield, Connecticut) picked up two assists on the afternoon to give her a team and MAAC-leading eight on the season and 19 for her career. Her eight helpers in 2016 have her ranked in the Top 20 in the nation while her 19 career assists move her into sole possession of fifth place on the all-time career record list at Quinnipiac. The four players ahead of Fontaine on the all-time leaderboard all graduated prior to 2001, giving Fontaine the most assists by a single-player in the last 15 years and the most ever by a four-year Division I Bobcat as Quinnipiac moved into the NCAA Div. I ranks in 1998.

After a largely uneventful first 45 minutes of play, Quinnipiac entered the halftime locker room with a clear edge in shots (8-1) and corners (4-0) through the first half of play. Just like the 3-0 win over Marist last Saturday, the Bobcats played to a scoreless first half before pummeling the opposition with a three-goal second half.

The game's first goal came quickly in the second half as Pelletier was on the receiving end of a great sequence from Fontaine as the senior midfielder worked her magic along the near side. Dribbling into the box and nearing the end line, she looked up to find an open Pelletier to her right. Fontaine's pass landed right at Pelletier's feet and the sophomore made no mistake with a curling finish from her left foot into the back of the net.

With Canisius on their toes, the Bobcats capitalized for another just 25 seconds later as this time Fontaine found Gill with a looping pass over the top of the defense. Receiving a throw-in from Joanna Proctor (Frimley, England) on the far side, Fontaine quickly turned and spotted Gill making a run. Catching the defense off-guard, Fontaine flipped a ball over the top and Gill sprinted the ball down before the Canisius keeper could reach the pass. With Alana Rossi coming out of her net to challenge, Gill expertly chipped a shot over the keeper's outstretched arms and the ball trickled over the goal line to make it 2-0 in the 56^th minute.

Extra insurance came in the form of a magnificent goal from Borowiec as the goal-scoring play started on the far side with Pelletier flipping a cross to the opposite post where Kelly Caruso (Rocky Hill, Connecticut) was waiting. The senior midfielder one-timed a shot headed for commotion in the box and while lying on the ground, Borowiec flipped her right leg up and the ball deflected off her foot and went bar-down for her second goal of the year.

Olivia Myszewski (Elm Grove, Wisconsin) made two saves in 77:51 of action while Devan Malcolm (Natick, Massachusetts) entered in the final 12:09 to combine for the shutout. Quinnipiac's defense limited Canisius all afternoon as the Golden Griffins were outshot 16-3 throughout the match.

The three-goal home win came on Senior Day where the Bobcats honored its five-member senior class – Fontaine, Proctor, Caruso, Sarah Pandolfi (North Haven, Connecticut) and Laura Nicholas (Derry City, Northern Ireland) – prior to the start of play.

Already with eight wins on the season, as many as the Bobcats had all of last season, Quinnipiac heads into another home match on Wednesday against Iona (3 PM) looking to extend their unbeaten streak to five games.