QU Women’s Lacrosse Drops Heartbreaker to CCSU, 9-8, in Triple Overtime

Wednesday, March 30

Hamden, CT

3:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

2-7, 0-1MAAC

CCSU

1-7, 0-0NEC

OT 1

CCSU

Quinnipiac

QU Women’s Lacrosse Drops Heartbreaker to CCSU, 9-8, in Triple Overtime

3/30/2016 7:02:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

By: QU Sports Information

HAMDEN, Connecticut – After fighting all the way back from a five-goal second half deficit, the Quinnipiac women's lacrosse team saw Central Connecticut State tied the score with 24.9 seconds remaining and then go on to defeat the Bobcats, 9-8, in triple overtime on Wednesday from the Quinnipiac Lacrosse Turf Complex.

A near historic comeback attempt was spoiled by the Blue Devils (1-7) as the Bobcats' (2-7) in-state and former conference foe notches their first win of the season as Quinnipiac concludes their 2016 non-conference slate and will continue with MAAC play throughout the remainder of the regular season.

Slugging through a first half in which Quinnipiac committed 10 costly turnovers and only attempted five shots compared to 14 for the Blue Devils, the Bobcats saw their opponent jump out to a 5-1 halftime lead. It took more than 21 minutes for Quinnipiac to finally break through on the scoreboard as Aileen Carey (Long Beach, New York) scored her first of the game to account for the Bobcats' scoring in the first half.

Kyle Larkin (Holbrook, New York) was there when her team needed her the most in the first half as she picked up five of her seven saves in the first 30 minutes of play as her steady performance in net kept her team within striking distance of the lead which paid strong dividends in the second half.

CCSU struck again in the early going of the second half, going up 6-1 before the Bobcats steamed forward thanks to an incredibly gritty and determined effort all around the field.

After scoring only one goal in more than 35 minutes of play, Quinnipiac turned it up on the offensive end exploding for six consecutive goals in a matter of 8:35 of game action. One would be hard pressed to come up with a 10 minute stretch, throughout the entire nine-game regular season, in which the Bobcats played better than they did this afternoon in that single span of time.

Allison Kuhn (Kingsville, Maryland) took a feed from Alex Hlesciak (Lumberton, New Jersey) and drove to the net for the first goal of the 6-0 run. Cara O'Meally (Bay Shore, New York) threw her hands into the air just over two minutes later as her first goal of the day started to instill belief in her teammates as the Bobcat bench was starting to reach a fever pitch.

Hlesciak made a great little stop and start move that caught the defense off guard to make it 6-4 and she followed with a highlight-reel tally as O'Meally's free position shot was saved and caromed high in the air. As the ball started to fall, Hlesiak came flying in from her position inside the circle and swung her stick, connecting with the ball which landed in the back of the net. At five-foot-nine, Hlesciak used her length to sky over the defenders and ripped home her second goal of the game which was also good enough for a career-high three points on the day.

Still trailing 6-5, Carey tied the score up with a beautiful backhanded tally as Loren Antonacci (Smithtown, New York) spotted her from behind the net. As Carey was falling to the ground, she was able to get enough on her backhand shot attempt to beat the CCSU goalkeeper low and tie the score up 6-6.

O'Meally finished off the dominating 6-0 run with her second goal of the game, good enough for the first career multi-goal game for the freshman, as again she jumped for joy on the goal line sending her team into the lead for the first time in the game.

CCSU broke up the run with a goal to tie the score at 7-7 before Kuhn scored her second of the day on another feed from Antonacci behind the net to give Quinnipiac the 8-7 advantage with 5:50 remaining in the second half. Antonacci finished the game with her first career points as she tallied three assists (all in the second half).

The Blue Devils had two cracks at the equalizing goal, the second of which hit the pipe and caromed far out wide as the Bobcats held the ball with under two minutes on the clock leading by one. As Quinnipiac attempted to pass the ball around the outside and drain time, an errant pass landed out of bounds and O'Meally was issued a yellow card just seconds after to create a great opportunity for CCSU.

Working the ball around the outside with a man-up, the Blue Devils were able to draw a foul inside which led to the game-tying free position goal from Carson Adelberger which tied the score at 8-8.

Quinnipiac took the draw control with 24.9 seconds still remaining in regulation but Hlesiak's shot with six seconds remaining went begging as the game was sent into overtime.

Both teams traded looks in the first two extra sessions as six full minutes went by without a goal, finally in the third overtime frame, the Blue Devils' leading scorer Madison Hughes shook loose and scored her first goal of the day which proved to be the game-winner as her team rushed onto the field in celebration of their first win of 2016.

Despite falling in a tough comeback attempt, Quinnipiac was led by a career game from Hlesciak as she notched a career-high five points while snagging five draw controls (one off career-high) and setting a career-high with four ground balls.

Kuhn (two goals, one assist) picked up three points to give her 13 on the season while O'Meally doubled her season goal total in one game as she finished with two goals in the course of play. Carey was all over the field with two goals, four ground balls and a career-high four caused turnovers. Kiera Kelly (West Islip, New York) was solid throughout as the MAAC's leader in ground balls and caused turnovers turned in another strong performance with three ground balls and three caused turnovers.

Nothing but MAAC games remain for the Bobcats as Quinnipiac welcomes Canisius to the QU Lacrosse Turf Complex on Saturday, April 2 at 1 PM.