QU Women’s Soccer’s Storybook Season Ends in MAAC Championship Game

Sunday, November 6

Hesse Field on the Great Lawn - West Long Branch, NJ

3:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

12-7-1

Monmouth

14-4-2

Quinnipiac

Monmouth

QU Women’s Soccer’s Storybook Season Ends in MAAC Championship Game

11/6/2016 7:37:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Bobcats Finish With Most Single-Season Wins (12) Since 2001

By: QU Sports Information

WEST LONG BRANCH, New Jersey – The Monmouth women's soccer team scored three first half goals and held on the rest of the way to capture a 5-2 win over Quinnipiac on Sunday in the championship game of the MAAC Tournament at Hesse Field on the Great Lawn.

With the loss, Quinnipiac sees its season end at 12-7-1 overall after going 6-4 in MAAC regular season play to earn the No. 4 seed in the MAAC Tournament. Finishing one way shy of advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history, the Bobcats' 12-win season stands tied for the third-highest win total in program history and the most victories in a single-season since 2001.

Monmouth, the four-time defending MAAC Regular Season Champions, won their second conference title in four seasons. The Hawks rolled through their league slate, going 9-0-1 in MAAC regular season play and 11-0-1 against conference foes in 2016. Monmouth outscored MAAC foes by a combined score of 48-7 (+41 goal differential) this season.

The Hawks struck early on in the 23^rd minute after play was primarily back-and-forth in the opening minutes. A quick turnover in the defensive third opened the door for Alli DeLuca who made no mistake as she blasted a shot from distance into the top left corner of the net past the diving attempt from Bobcat goalkeeper Olivia Myszewski (Elm Grove, Wisconsin).

Armed with a lead, the Hawks began funneling passes around the field and took control of possession. That ball domination again paid off with a pair of perfectly played balls as Monmouth carried a 3-0 lead into halftime.

DeLuca again factored on the second Monmouth goal as she played the ball out wide to Rachael Ivanicki who maneuvered herself through the Bobcat defenders and whipped a shot bar-down to the far side corner as Myszewski again had no chance on the upper-90 shot.

Monmouth's pressure only intensified as the first half went along and the lead ballooned to 3-0 before the halftime buzzer sounded. This time a set piece was played by Julie Spracklin out wide to Anna Lazur who quickly fired a ball into the box for the head of Miranda Konstantinides, resulting in the third Monmouth goal of the first half.

Konstantinides scored her second of the day early in the second half to make it 4-0 as a bang-bang-bang sequence of passes in front of Myszewski's net led to the easy tap-in goal.

Quinnipiac's fight began to show in the second half as the Bobcats managed to draw a penalty despite the four-goal deficit. Nadya Gill (Toronto, Ontario) broke loose along the Monmouth back line and drew the referee's whistle as a Monmouth defender tripped the sophomore forward in the box. The free kick specialist Kelly Caruso (Rocky Hill, Connecticut) stepped up to the circle for Quinnipiac and fired one past the Monmouth keeper to the lower right corner of the net for the senior's fifth goal of the season. Caruso finishes her career four-for-four on penalty kicks while setting a single-season career high five tallies after coming into her senior season with four career goals.

The Hawks added an insurance marker in the 62^nd minute to build the lead back up to 5-1 and Quinnipiac managed one final tally in the 85^th minute before the final whistle. Jess Gargan (Dublin, Ireland) lined up a free kick from 40 yards out and fired a line drive into the box looking for a deflection. Gargan's pass missed the heads of everyone in the box but with the Monmouth keeper out of position, the ball bounced once and into the back of the net to cap the score at 5-2.

In the postgame ceremonies, Gargan, Jess Fontaine and Al Pelletier were all honored with MAAC All-Tournament Team honors.

Quinnipiac's first appearance in the MAAC Tournament in a non-automatic qualifying season can be deemed a successful one as the Bobcats won their first postseason game and advanced to their first conference championship game in 16 years. Four senior class members playing in their final game – Caruso, Fontaine, Joanna Proctor and Sarah Pandolfi – cap their careers leading the Bobcats to 12 wins this season and 20 in the last two years combined after winning only six games total their first two seasons.