Albany Comes Back To Defeat QU Women's Soccer 3-1

Sunday, September 11

Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium - Albany, NY

1:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

4-2-1

UAlbany

3-5

Quinnipiac

UAlbany

9/11/2016 3:40:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: QU Sports Information

ALBANY, N.Y. - Senior midfielder Jess Fontaine (Enfield, Conn.) gave Quinnipiac a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute, but it didn't hold up as Albany scored twice in the second half to take a 3-1 win on Sunday afternoon at Bob Ford Field in the final non-conference game of the season for the Bobcats.

With the loss, Quinnipiac slips to 4-2-1 on the year, with its only prior loss coming 2-1 at Seton Hall. Albany, which won the America East championship last year to advance to the NCAA Tournament, improves to 3-5 on the year with the win as Kiana Rugar scored two goals on the afternoon.

The Bobcats had the better of the early play, with several near misses in the first 10 minutes. Fontaine, who nearly put the Bobcats on the board in the fifth minute but had her shot saved, finally broke the ice when she got to a loose ball in the box and slipped a shot under Albany goalkeeper Alana Olivieri for her second goal of the season at the 14:37 mark.

Quinnipiac kept the pressure on after the goal and had a couple chances to push the lead to 2-0, but could not convert. Albany was finally able to relieve some of the pressure and get the ball to the other end of the field, when Rugar got loose inside the top of the box and blasted a shot into the upper-right corner to level the score at 1-1 at the 29:59 mark.

The score stayed deadlocked at 1-1 the rest of the half, and Quinnipiac came out of intermission with restored energy and pinned Albany back for the first 10 minutes. Five minutes into the half, a free kick from senior midfielder Kelly Caruso (Rocky Hill, Conn.) skimmed off the head of a Great Dane defender and hit off the crossbar, but stayed out, leaving the score 1-1.

Just minutes later, Albany again scored against the run of play, as Gina Bracamonte's long-range shot deflected in off a Quinnipiac defender at the 58:43 mark to give the Great Danes their first lead of the game. Less than 10 minutes later, Rugar got into the box behind the Bobcat defense on a through ball from Caitlyn Paltsios and dipped a hard shot under the crossbar and in for her second goal of the game to push the lead to 3-1. Quinnipiac had a couple chances down the stretch to cut the deficit in half, but Olivieri had five of her saves in the second half to preserve the two-goal win.

"It's been a bit of a nemesis over the last few weeks, as well as we've been playing," said Head Coach Dave Clarke. "Even with the fact that we're scoring goals, we still haven't put away as many chances as we should. And this is what happens when you don't take advantage; it's going to come back and bite you."

Sophomore defender Jess Cascio (Hebron, Conn.) led the Bobcats in shots with four, while Fontaine, sophomore forward Nadya Gill (Toronto, Ontario) and sophomore forward Ally Grunstein (Warren, N.J.) each had three. Freshman Devan Malcolm (Natick, Mass.) had three saves for the Bobcats in a losing cause, as shots ended up 17 apiece on the day.

Quinnipiac is back in action on Saturday when it travels to Rider for its MAAC opener at 1 p.m.