Sunday, September 11
Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium - Albany, NY
1:00 PM
Quinnipiac University
at
UAlbany
QU Women's Soccer Travels To Albany Sunday For Final Non-Conference Game
9/10/2016 11:57:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Quinnipiac Bobcats (4-1-1, 0-0-0 MAAC) at
UAlbany Great Danes (2-5, 0-0 America East)
Sunday, September 11, 2016 • 1:00 PM
Bob Ford Field • Albany, N.Y.
All-Time Series vs. UAlbany: 3-1
Follow the Game
Live Stats
Live Video
The final non-conference match for the Quinnipiac women's soccer team in 2016 shapes up to be the toughest yet as the Bobcats head to Bob Ford Field to take on the reigning America East Champion UAlbany on Sunday, Sept. 11 at 1 PM. These two sides met last season and the Great Danes dominated play, walking away with a 4-1 win in Hamden. Fast forward to 2016 and this matchup figures to be a much closer affair as the Bobcats come in riding high with a 4-1-1 record while UAlbany has struggled out of the gates owning a 2-5 mark.
ALL-TIME AGAINST UALBANY (3-1)
SCOUTING REPORT: UALBANY
UNCOMMON RESULT
Nadya Gill's tally in the 19th minute, coupled with a stellar defensive showing from the Bobcats' back line, helped lead the way to a 1-0 victory over Bryant (9/6). Quinnipiac's second clean sheet of 2016 (3-0 vs. UMass Lowell – Aug. 23, 2016) stands as the first 1-0 win for the Bobcats since defeating Vermont by the same score at home back on Sept. 13, 2014. The 1-0 result also marked the first time that the Bobcats have won 1-0 on the road since defeating Holy Cross on Sept. 2, 2012.
CAPTAIN CLUTCH
Nadya Gill continues to show a flair for the dramatic as her tally in the 19th minute at Bryant served as game-winner in a 1-0 victory for the Bobcats. That game-winning tally stands as her team and MAAC-leading fourth goal of 2016 and second game-winner of the season. Through 23 games in her career, Gill has accumulated 12 goals and four assists for 28 points (1.22 per game). Incredibly, seven of Gill's 12 career goals have gone down as game-winners.
THREE-WAY TIE AT THE TOP
One of the highest scoring teams in the country this season, the Bobcats rank 30th in the nation and first in the MAAC in goals per game (2.50) while also sitting 32nd in points per game (7.33). Even with all the scoring power, the Bobcats do no lean heavily on one player as eight different Bobcats have scored at least one goal and 12 different players have registered at least one point in 2016. Nadya Gill leads the team with nine points including four goals in 2016 while Sarah Pandolfi (three goals, one assist) and Ally Grunstein (two goals, three assists) both have seven points and Jess Fontaine has totaled six including a team-leading four assists.
IT ALL PANS OUT
A missed 2015 season for Sarah Pandolfi had the Bobcats dealing with the loss of one of the team's main strikers. Two years removed from being just one of two Bobcats to start all 17 games in 2014, Pandolfi blasted home her first goal as a Bobcat in a 3-0 win over UMass Lowell. She recently followed with a career high five points (two goals, one assist) in a 6-2 win over Delaware State to earn her MAAC Offensive Player of the Week honors. A transfer from UMass, Pandolfi finished her freshman year as a Minutewoman with two goals and two assists before transferring to Quinnipiac prior to the start of 2014. In her 2014 season, Pandolfi led the team with 35 shots while adding two assists in her 17 games.
GOALS GALORE
A six-goal outburst carried Quinnipiac past Delaware State (9/4) in dominating fashion, 6-2. Coming into play with an already lethal scoring attack, the Bobcats only padded their stats as Quinnipiac now has 14 goals through five games in 2016 for a per-game average of 2.80. The highest scoring team in the MAAC reached six goals in a single-game for the first time since defeating Fairfield Dickinson, 6-0, back on Oct. 31, 2010 – the last time Quinnipiac tallied more than six goals in a single-game came all the way back in 1999 when the Bobcats defeated Iona, 7-0.
ASSISTED LIVING
Helping factor into the six-goal explosion against Delaware State was a total of nine assists as a team for the Bobcats which stands as the most accumulated in a single-game in the program's Div. I history. Led by Ally Grunstein's single-game Div. I record three assists, seven players in all racked up at least one helper in the six-goal scoring spree. As a team, the Bobcats have racked up 14 assists through six games for a per-game average (2.33) that sits 30th in the nation.
WEEKLY AWARD RUN
Through three weeks of the 2016 season, the Bobcats have had one player take home a MAAC weekly award in three straight weeks to start the new season. Olivia Myszewski and Ally Grunstein started the run with back-to-back MAAC Rookie of the Week award and Sarah Pandolfi most recently took home her first career weekly honor as she was named Offensive Player of the Week. Pandolfi joined Nadya Gill and Jessica Jankowski (both during 2015) as just the third Bobcat since Quinnipiac joined the MAAC in 2013 to take home the conference's Offensive Player of the Week award.
CARUSO CARRESSING IT IN
Kelly Caruso notched the lone goal for the Bobcats in a 2-1 loss in South Orange to Seton Hall (8/29). A free kick specialist, Caruso lined up her shot and drove the ball over the Pirate wall before the ball spiraled into the top left corner of the cage. Caruso's first goal of 2016 gives her five over her four-year career while the last three straight have come off set pieces.
DOUBLE DIPPING
Ally Grunstein factored heavily in the decision against NJIT (8/26) as her first two career goals helped lift the Bobcats to a 2-2 draw after trailing the Highlanders 2-0 midway through the first half. Grunstein immediately vaulted up to a tie with Nadya Gill for first on the team in points and goals while she joins Gill as just the second freshman since 2009 to post a multi-goal game in their freshman campaign.
OVERCOMING THE ODDS
The Bobcats' 2-2 draw against NJIT not only kept Quinnipiac undefeated but it signaled one of the more significant results in recent memory. Prior to Friday's draw, the last time the Bobcats erased a two-goal deficit to either tie or win a game came all the way back on Oct. 3, 2008 when Quinnipiac defeated Robert Morris, 4-3, in double overtime. The near eight-year run spanned an incredible 119 matches since the Bobcats last accomplished the feat.
MOVIN ON UP
With her assist on Nadya Gill's game-winner against Bryant, Jess Fontaine made a move up the Top 10 all-time career record list at Quinnipiac with 15 career assists. She is now in sole possession of ninth place all-time in program history. Just three more assists would put her past Furtuna Velaj '12 and give her the most career assists by any individual player in the last 15 years of the program.
UTILIZING THE YOUTH
Through six games in 2016, 10 of the 15 Bobcat goals on the season have been scored by underclassmen. Sophomores Nadya Gill (four), Al Pelletier (two), Madison Borowiec (one) and Katrina Friedman (one) combine with freshmen Ally Grunstein (two) for nine of the team's goals this season. The lone non-underclassmen to score in 2016 have been Sarah Pandolfi (three), Jess Fontaine (one) and Kelly Caruso (one).
MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE
Devan Malcolm earned the starting nod for the Bobcats against UMass Lowell and delivered in what was her first career appearance. The sophomore keeper notched five saves to not only pick up the win but also record a clean sheet in her collegiate debut. She became the first Quinnipiac goalkeeper to post a shutout in their first career appearance since Class of 2016 graduate Natalia Grodzki recorded a two-save shutout in her debut against NJIT back on Sept. 7, 2012.
THREE'S COMPANY
Three different goal scorers filled the stat sheet for Quinnipiac as Nadya Gill, Sarah Pandolfi and Madison Borowiec picked up the goals for the Bobcats in a 3-0 win over UMass Lowell. Gill recorded her second goal of 2016 as well as the 10th of her career and sixth game-winning goal in 19 career appearances. After missing the entire 2015 campaign due to injury, Pandolfi blasted home her first career goal as a Bobcat in the win while Borowiec registered her second career goal and is now tied for second on the team in points with three.
LITTLE AL DOING BIG THINGS
Sophomore forward Al Pelletier had herself a dominant start to the 2016 campaign as she notched one goal and one assist, including the game-winning tally in the 82nd minute that sent the Bobcats past Toledo, 2-1, at home in the season opener. Pelletier either scored or assisted on both of the two Bobcat goals on the day while she also picked up her first career game-winning tally late in the second half. Just one year removed from recording one goal in 10 games played ruing her rookie season, Pelletier eclipsed that season total in one game in 2016.
ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS
After just one appearance, freshman keeper Olivia Myszewski has already made a little history as her seven saves goes down as the most by a Bobcat goalkeeper in their first career appearance in the program's Div. I era (since 1998). Myszewski's seven saves are the most since Elizabeth Cook notched six in her first career appearance. Myszewski also became the first Bobcat keeper to pick up the victory in a victory in their first career start since Cook helped lead Quinnipiac to a double overtime 1-0 victory back on Oct. 4, 2009.
A LOOK AT THE SQUAD
Just one year removed from the largest freshman class (13) in head coach Dave Clarke's 18-year tenure at Quinnipiac, 11 return and are joined by eight freshmen in 2016 as the Bobcats will again be one of the youngest teams in the nation for the upcoming season. Luckily for coach Clarke, the 19-member underclassmen group did gain some valuable experience last season as Quinnipiac returns 10-of-13 total players who saw time in at least 12 games in 2015. Among the large sophomore group, nine of the 11 returners appeared in at least nine games in 2015 and an impressive total of seven saw time in at least 14 games last season.
GUESS WHOSE BACK…BACK AGAIN
One huge key for the Bobcats in 2016 is the return of every member of the defensive core that gelled throughout the course of the 2015 season. The very inexperienced back line core that came together in 2015, consisting of then-junior Joanna Proctor along with then-freshmen Sarahkate Norton, Jess Cascio, Caroline DeBonis and Katrina Friedman, return completely intact for the 2016 season. Both of the Bobcat centerbacks in Norton and Cascio return having played in all 17 games in 2015 while ranking first and second on the team among field players in minutes played with 1495 and 1478, respectively.
NEW NETMINDER
With the loss of three-year starter Natalia Grodzki to graduation, the Bobcats will be looking for a new goalkeeper in 2016. Rising sophomore Devan Malcolm was a backup goalkeeper in 2015 but didn't see any playing time during the season, making her time as the Bobcats' primary keeper in the spring that much more important as she gained some valuable experience. Joining the mix in 2016 are freshmen Charlotte Edmunds and Olivia Myszewski. Edmunds enters with over 20 caps playing for the Wales Junior National Teams while spending the 2015-16 season with West Bromwich Albion. Myszewski dominated the state of Wisconsin, earning a highly-acclaimed 2016 NSCAA High School All-American honor while being named the 2016 WSCA Player of the Year following a 2016 campaign that featured 13 shutouts and 0.74 GAA while leading her team to the WIAA Division I State Championship.
LEADING THE WAY
Another key for the Bobcats in 2016 is the return of the top three scorers from 2015 as Nadya Gill, Jess Fontaine and Jess Gargan each put together double digit points last season. Gill hopes to repeat her success as a freshman when she led the team with 19 points (eight goals, three assists) on her way to earning the MAAC Rookie of the Year honor. Fontaine broke out in 2015 with a single-season career high 17 points (five goals, seven assists) as she either scored or assisted on a team-leading 41.4 percent of the Bobcats' goals last season. Gargan meanwhile finished third on the team with 10 points (four goals, two assists) while she was a driving force in the attack half, ranking second on the team in 2015 with 34 shots.
PUSHING FORWARD
Offense certainly was the strength of the team in 2015 as the Bobcats finished the season with 29 goals and 32 assists for an average of 1.71 goals and 1.88 assists per game which both ranked in the upper half of the MAAC last season. On a per-game basis, the Bobcats averaged the second-most assists per game of any team in the conference, finishing just behind Monmouth who posted 1.89 assists per game in 2015. The production on the offensive end signified a drastic shift from a 2014 season that saw Quinnipiac score just 11 goals in 17 games. The 29-goal total for the season stands as the most in a single-season for the program since 2001 (13 years ago) and the fifth-most ever for the Bobcats in the program's NCAA Div. I era.
SHOOT TO GILL
A dynamic attacking forward as a freshman, the 2015 MAAC Rookie of the Year Nadya Gill returns for her sophomore season with high expectations. Finishing the year with All-MAAC Second Team honors, the two-time MAAC Rookie of the Week started all 17 games in 2015 and ranked first on the team in points (19), goals (eight), game-winning goals (five), shots (53) and shots-on-goal (30). She ranked sixth in the MAAC in points and points per game (1.12) while she also sat tied for fifth in goals, fifth in goals per game (0.47) and second in game-winning tallies. Gill joined Jillian Strassner (2009), Kirsten van de Ven (2004) and Elisa Goncalves (1999) as the fourth player in program history to be named Rookie of the Year in conference.
FONTAINE OF YOUTH
An established threat in the midfield, Jess Fontaine returns for her senior campaign in 2016 following a highly productive 2015 season. Starting all 17 games, she logged 1400 minutes of playing time, the most for any non-defensive player on the team while she broke out with a career high 17 points. She led the team with seven assists and ranked second on the Bobcats with five goals. Fontaine also finished tied for seventh in the MAAC in points and points per game (1.00) while ranking second in the conference in assists and assists per game (0.41). She also sat high nationally, tied for 49th in the nation with her assists per game total and tied for 71st with her seven assists. She comes into her senior year as the team's active career leading scorer with 11 goals and 11 assists (33 points) in 49 games played.
CAREER YEAR FOR CARUSO
A terror for opponents off the bench all season, Kelly Caruso put together a tremendous junior campaign in 2015 that featured a career high eight points (two goals, four assists) in 17 games played (seven starts). Caruso tallied her eight points while playing just 934 minutes as she finished the season as the only player on the team to log less than 1,000 minutes while appearing in all 17 games. Out of all players on the team, Caruso enters her senior year with the most career games played (50) as she has tallied 17 points (four goals, nine assists) in her first three seasons.
HONORS ALL AROUND
Despite just missing out on the MAAC Tournament last season, Quinnipiac was still well-represented in the All-MAAC voting for 2015. Nadya Gill received three honors as the MAAC Rookie of the Year also earned a spot on the All-MAAC Second Team as well as the All-MAAC Rookie Team. Joining Gill on the All-MAAC Rookie Team was defender Sarahkate Norton and midfielder Jess Gargan as the Bobcats tied for the league-lead with three All-Rookie selections. Most recently, Gill earned a spot on the 2016 All-MAAC Preseason Team as voted upon by the league's head coaches.
UAlbany Great Danes (2-5, 0-0 America East)
Sunday, September 11, 2016 • 1:00 PM
Bob Ford Field • Albany, N.Y.
All-Time Series vs. UAlbany: 3-1
Follow the Game
Live Stats
Live Video
The final non-conference match for the Quinnipiac women's soccer team in 2016 shapes up to be the toughest yet as the Bobcats head to Bob Ford Field to take on the reigning America East Champion UAlbany on Sunday, Sept. 11 at 1 PM. These two sides met last season and the Great Danes dominated play, walking away with a 4-1 win in Hamden. Fast forward to 2016 and this matchup figures to be a much closer affair as the Bobcats come in riding high with a 4-1-1 record while UAlbany has struggled out of the gates owning a 2-5 mark.
ALL-TIME AGAINST UALBANY (3-1)
- UAlbany defeated Quinnipiac for the first time in the all-time series, 4-1, in Hamden last season
- Even with the three-goal deficit, the margin was only 2-1 into the 82nd minute of play
- Shots only favored UAlbany 11-9 in the meeting last season
- Quinnipiac and UAlbany have faced off four times in the series history, with the Bobcats taking the victory in the first three matchups
- Prior to 2015, the last time these two sides met was nearly 10 years ago as the Bobcats defeated the Great Danes, 1-0, on Sept. 21, 2005 at home
- QU outscored UAlbany, 6-1, in the first three all-time contests and didn't allowed a goal in two of those three meetings
SCOUTING REPORT: UALBANY
- The Great Danes are 2-5 on the season against a tough schedule
- Three of Albany's five losses have come against Syracuse, Seton Hall and Saint John's
- Albany played Siena out of the MAAC in a local rivalry, falling 1-0, while its wins have come against Army and Rhode Island
- Alexa Schneider currently leads the Great Danes with three goals, followed by Caitlyn Paltsios with two
- Caroline Kopp has a team-high three assists
- The goalkeeping duties have been split almost evenly between Chloe Borasky and Alana Olivieri. Borasky has played four games and has a 1.50 goals against average and .667 save percentage, while Olivieri has started three games and has a 1.64 goals against average and a .700 save percetage.
UNCOMMON RESULT
Nadya Gill's tally in the 19th minute, coupled with a stellar defensive showing from the Bobcats' back line, helped lead the way to a 1-0 victory over Bryant (9/6). Quinnipiac's second clean sheet of 2016 (3-0 vs. UMass Lowell – Aug. 23, 2016) stands as the first 1-0 win for the Bobcats since defeating Vermont by the same score at home back on Sept. 13, 2014. The 1-0 result also marked the first time that the Bobcats have won 1-0 on the road since defeating Holy Cross on Sept. 2, 2012.
CAPTAIN CLUTCH
Nadya Gill continues to show a flair for the dramatic as her tally in the 19th minute at Bryant served as game-winner in a 1-0 victory for the Bobcats. That game-winning tally stands as her team and MAAC-leading fourth goal of 2016 and second game-winner of the season. Through 23 games in her career, Gill has accumulated 12 goals and four assists for 28 points (1.22 per game). Incredibly, seven of Gill's 12 career goals have gone down as game-winners.
THREE-WAY TIE AT THE TOP
One of the highest scoring teams in the country this season, the Bobcats rank 30th in the nation and first in the MAAC in goals per game (2.50) while also sitting 32nd in points per game (7.33). Even with all the scoring power, the Bobcats do no lean heavily on one player as eight different Bobcats have scored at least one goal and 12 different players have registered at least one point in 2016. Nadya Gill leads the team with nine points including four goals in 2016 while Sarah Pandolfi (three goals, one assist) and Ally Grunstein (two goals, three assists) both have seven points and Jess Fontaine has totaled six including a team-leading four assists.
IT ALL PANS OUT
A missed 2015 season for Sarah Pandolfi had the Bobcats dealing with the loss of one of the team's main strikers. Two years removed from being just one of two Bobcats to start all 17 games in 2014, Pandolfi blasted home her first goal as a Bobcat in a 3-0 win over UMass Lowell. She recently followed with a career high five points (two goals, one assist) in a 6-2 win over Delaware State to earn her MAAC Offensive Player of the Week honors. A transfer from UMass, Pandolfi finished her freshman year as a Minutewoman with two goals and two assists before transferring to Quinnipiac prior to the start of 2014. In her 2014 season, Pandolfi led the team with 35 shots while adding two assists in her 17 games.
GOALS GALORE
A six-goal outburst carried Quinnipiac past Delaware State (9/4) in dominating fashion, 6-2. Coming into play with an already lethal scoring attack, the Bobcats only padded their stats as Quinnipiac now has 14 goals through five games in 2016 for a per-game average of 2.80. The highest scoring team in the MAAC reached six goals in a single-game for the first time since defeating Fairfield Dickinson, 6-0, back on Oct. 31, 2010 – the last time Quinnipiac tallied more than six goals in a single-game came all the way back in 1999 when the Bobcats defeated Iona, 7-0.
ASSISTED LIVING
Helping factor into the six-goal explosion against Delaware State was a total of nine assists as a team for the Bobcats which stands as the most accumulated in a single-game in the program's Div. I history. Led by Ally Grunstein's single-game Div. I record three assists, seven players in all racked up at least one helper in the six-goal scoring spree. As a team, the Bobcats have racked up 14 assists through six games for a per-game average (2.33) that sits 30th in the nation.
WEEKLY AWARD RUN
Through three weeks of the 2016 season, the Bobcats have had one player take home a MAAC weekly award in three straight weeks to start the new season. Olivia Myszewski and Ally Grunstein started the run with back-to-back MAAC Rookie of the Week award and Sarah Pandolfi most recently took home her first career weekly honor as she was named Offensive Player of the Week. Pandolfi joined Nadya Gill and Jessica Jankowski (both during 2015) as just the third Bobcat since Quinnipiac joined the MAAC in 2013 to take home the conference's Offensive Player of the Week award.
CARUSO CARRESSING IT IN
Kelly Caruso notched the lone goal for the Bobcats in a 2-1 loss in South Orange to Seton Hall (8/29). A free kick specialist, Caruso lined up her shot and drove the ball over the Pirate wall before the ball spiraled into the top left corner of the cage. Caruso's first goal of 2016 gives her five over her four-year career while the last three straight have come off set pieces.
DOUBLE DIPPING
Ally Grunstein factored heavily in the decision against NJIT (8/26) as her first two career goals helped lift the Bobcats to a 2-2 draw after trailing the Highlanders 2-0 midway through the first half. Grunstein immediately vaulted up to a tie with Nadya Gill for first on the team in points and goals while she joins Gill as just the second freshman since 2009 to post a multi-goal game in their freshman campaign.
OVERCOMING THE ODDS
The Bobcats' 2-2 draw against NJIT not only kept Quinnipiac undefeated but it signaled one of the more significant results in recent memory. Prior to Friday's draw, the last time the Bobcats erased a two-goal deficit to either tie or win a game came all the way back on Oct. 3, 2008 when Quinnipiac defeated Robert Morris, 4-3, in double overtime. The near eight-year run spanned an incredible 119 matches since the Bobcats last accomplished the feat.
MOVIN ON UP
With her assist on Nadya Gill's game-winner against Bryant, Jess Fontaine made a move up the Top 10 all-time career record list at Quinnipiac with 15 career assists. She is now in sole possession of ninth place all-time in program history. Just three more assists would put her past Furtuna Velaj '12 and give her the most career assists by any individual player in the last 15 years of the program.
UTILIZING THE YOUTH
Through six games in 2016, 10 of the 15 Bobcat goals on the season have been scored by underclassmen. Sophomores Nadya Gill (four), Al Pelletier (two), Madison Borowiec (one) and Katrina Friedman (one) combine with freshmen Ally Grunstein (two) for nine of the team's goals this season. The lone non-underclassmen to score in 2016 have been Sarah Pandolfi (three), Jess Fontaine (one) and Kelly Caruso (one).
MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE
Devan Malcolm earned the starting nod for the Bobcats against UMass Lowell and delivered in what was her first career appearance. The sophomore keeper notched five saves to not only pick up the win but also record a clean sheet in her collegiate debut. She became the first Quinnipiac goalkeeper to post a shutout in their first career appearance since Class of 2016 graduate Natalia Grodzki recorded a two-save shutout in her debut against NJIT back on Sept. 7, 2012.
THREE'S COMPANY
Three different goal scorers filled the stat sheet for Quinnipiac as Nadya Gill, Sarah Pandolfi and Madison Borowiec picked up the goals for the Bobcats in a 3-0 win over UMass Lowell. Gill recorded her second goal of 2016 as well as the 10th of her career and sixth game-winning goal in 19 career appearances. After missing the entire 2015 campaign due to injury, Pandolfi blasted home her first career goal as a Bobcat in the win while Borowiec registered her second career goal and is now tied for second on the team in points with three.
LITTLE AL DOING BIG THINGS
Sophomore forward Al Pelletier had herself a dominant start to the 2016 campaign as she notched one goal and one assist, including the game-winning tally in the 82nd minute that sent the Bobcats past Toledo, 2-1, at home in the season opener. Pelletier either scored or assisted on both of the two Bobcat goals on the day while she also picked up her first career game-winning tally late in the second half. Just one year removed from recording one goal in 10 games played ruing her rookie season, Pelletier eclipsed that season total in one game in 2016.
ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS
After just one appearance, freshman keeper Olivia Myszewski has already made a little history as her seven saves goes down as the most by a Bobcat goalkeeper in their first career appearance in the program's Div. I era (since 1998). Myszewski's seven saves are the most since Elizabeth Cook notched six in her first career appearance. Myszewski also became the first Bobcat keeper to pick up the victory in a victory in their first career start since Cook helped lead Quinnipiac to a double overtime 1-0 victory back on Oct. 4, 2009.
A LOOK AT THE SQUAD
Just one year removed from the largest freshman class (13) in head coach Dave Clarke's 18-year tenure at Quinnipiac, 11 return and are joined by eight freshmen in 2016 as the Bobcats will again be one of the youngest teams in the nation for the upcoming season. Luckily for coach Clarke, the 19-member underclassmen group did gain some valuable experience last season as Quinnipiac returns 10-of-13 total players who saw time in at least 12 games in 2015. Among the large sophomore group, nine of the 11 returners appeared in at least nine games in 2015 and an impressive total of seven saw time in at least 14 games last season.
GUESS WHOSE BACK…BACK AGAIN
One huge key for the Bobcats in 2016 is the return of every member of the defensive core that gelled throughout the course of the 2015 season. The very inexperienced back line core that came together in 2015, consisting of then-junior Joanna Proctor along with then-freshmen Sarahkate Norton, Jess Cascio, Caroline DeBonis and Katrina Friedman, return completely intact for the 2016 season. Both of the Bobcat centerbacks in Norton and Cascio return having played in all 17 games in 2015 while ranking first and second on the team among field players in minutes played with 1495 and 1478, respectively.
NEW NETMINDER
With the loss of three-year starter Natalia Grodzki to graduation, the Bobcats will be looking for a new goalkeeper in 2016. Rising sophomore Devan Malcolm was a backup goalkeeper in 2015 but didn't see any playing time during the season, making her time as the Bobcats' primary keeper in the spring that much more important as she gained some valuable experience. Joining the mix in 2016 are freshmen Charlotte Edmunds and Olivia Myszewski. Edmunds enters with over 20 caps playing for the Wales Junior National Teams while spending the 2015-16 season with West Bromwich Albion. Myszewski dominated the state of Wisconsin, earning a highly-acclaimed 2016 NSCAA High School All-American honor while being named the 2016 WSCA Player of the Year following a 2016 campaign that featured 13 shutouts and 0.74 GAA while leading her team to the WIAA Division I State Championship.
LEADING THE WAY
Another key for the Bobcats in 2016 is the return of the top three scorers from 2015 as Nadya Gill, Jess Fontaine and Jess Gargan each put together double digit points last season. Gill hopes to repeat her success as a freshman when she led the team with 19 points (eight goals, three assists) on her way to earning the MAAC Rookie of the Year honor. Fontaine broke out in 2015 with a single-season career high 17 points (five goals, seven assists) as she either scored or assisted on a team-leading 41.4 percent of the Bobcats' goals last season. Gargan meanwhile finished third on the team with 10 points (four goals, two assists) while she was a driving force in the attack half, ranking second on the team in 2015 with 34 shots.
PUSHING FORWARD
Offense certainly was the strength of the team in 2015 as the Bobcats finished the season with 29 goals and 32 assists for an average of 1.71 goals and 1.88 assists per game which both ranked in the upper half of the MAAC last season. On a per-game basis, the Bobcats averaged the second-most assists per game of any team in the conference, finishing just behind Monmouth who posted 1.89 assists per game in 2015. The production on the offensive end signified a drastic shift from a 2014 season that saw Quinnipiac score just 11 goals in 17 games. The 29-goal total for the season stands as the most in a single-season for the program since 2001 (13 years ago) and the fifth-most ever for the Bobcats in the program's NCAA Div. I era.
SHOOT TO GILL
A dynamic attacking forward as a freshman, the 2015 MAAC Rookie of the Year Nadya Gill returns for her sophomore season with high expectations. Finishing the year with All-MAAC Second Team honors, the two-time MAAC Rookie of the Week started all 17 games in 2015 and ranked first on the team in points (19), goals (eight), game-winning goals (five), shots (53) and shots-on-goal (30). She ranked sixth in the MAAC in points and points per game (1.12) while she also sat tied for fifth in goals, fifth in goals per game (0.47) and second in game-winning tallies. Gill joined Jillian Strassner (2009), Kirsten van de Ven (2004) and Elisa Goncalves (1999) as the fourth player in program history to be named Rookie of the Year in conference.
FONTAINE OF YOUTH
An established threat in the midfield, Jess Fontaine returns for her senior campaign in 2016 following a highly productive 2015 season. Starting all 17 games, she logged 1400 minutes of playing time, the most for any non-defensive player on the team while she broke out with a career high 17 points. She led the team with seven assists and ranked second on the Bobcats with five goals. Fontaine also finished tied for seventh in the MAAC in points and points per game (1.00) while ranking second in the conference in assists and assists per game (0.41). She also sat high nationally, tied for 49th in the nation with her assists per game total and tied for 71st with her seven assists. She comes into her senior year as the team's active career leading scorer with 11 goals and 11 assists (33 points) in 49 games played.
CAREER YEAR FOR CARUSO
A terror for opponents off the bench all season, Kelly Caruso put together a tremendous junior campaign in 2015 that featured a career high eight points (two goals, four assists) in 17 games played (seven starts). Caruso tallied her eight points while playing just 934 minutes as she finished the season as the only player on the team to log less than 1,000 minutes while appearing in all 17 games. Out of all players on the team, Caruso enters her senior year with the most career games played (50) as she has tallied 17 points (four goals, nine assists) in her first three seasons.
HONORS ALL AROUND
Despite just missing out on the MAAC Tournament last season, Quinnipiac was still well-represented in the All-MAAC voting for 2015. Nadya Gill received three honors as the MAAC Rookie of the Year also earned a spot on the All-MAAC Second Team as well as the All-MAAC Rookie Team. Joining Gill on the All-MAAC Rookie Team was defender Sarahkate Norton and midfielder Jess Gargan as the Bobcats tied for the league-lead with three All-Rookie selections. Most recently, Gill earned a spot on the 2016 All-MAAC Preseason Team as voted upon by the league's head coaches.
Players Mentioned
M
/ Women's Soccer
M
/ Women's Soccer
D/M
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's Soccer
GK
/ Women's Soccer
M/F
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's Soccer
M/F
/ Women's Soccer
F/M
/ Women's Soccer
GK
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
GK
/ Women's Soccer
GK
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's SoccerQuinnipiac Athletics 2024-25 Highlight Video
Tuesday, May 20
WSOC vs Canisius (MAAC Semifinals)
Thursday, November 07
WSOC vs Iona (MAAC Quarterfinals)
Sunday, November 03
Women's Soccer vs Iona
Saturday, October 26
