QU Women's Soccer Set to Face Former Conference Foe Bryant on Wednesday

Wednesday, September 7

Bulldog Soccer Field - Smithfield, RI

3:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

Bryant

QU Women's Soccer Set to Face Former Conference Foe Bryant on Wednesday

9/6/2016 3:05:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Two Former NEC Foes Bobcats and Bulldogs Prepare for First Meeting Since 2012

By: QU Sports Information

Quinnipiac Bobcats (3-1-1, 0-0-0 MAAC) at
Bryant Bulldogs (3-2, 0-0 NEC)
Wednesday, September 7, 2016 • 3:00 PM
Bryant Soccer Field • Smithfield, R.I.
All-Time Series vs. Bryant: 12-3-1

Two former conference foes are set to meet for a midweek showdown on Wednesday as the Quinnipiac women's soccer team will take on Bryant from Bulldog Stadium with a 3 PM start. Wednesday's meeting will be the 17^th contest in a lengthy all-time series that dates all the way back to the 1987 season. Armed with an undefeated 3-0 mark at home in 2016, the Bobcats head to Rhode Island in search of their first road win this season as Quinnipiac drew with NJIT and lost to Seton Hall.

ALL-TIME AGAINST BRYANT (12-3-1)

The Bobcats have dominated the all-time series coming in with a record of 12-3-1 against their former foes in the Northeast Conference
Prior to Bryant joining the NEC in 2008, the Bobcats stood with a record of 8-1-1 in games played against the Bulldogs wherein both programs were NCAA Div. II
During the five-year run in which the two sides were members of the NEC, the Bobcats stood with a mark of 3-2 including a 1-0 double overtime win in 2009
Four of the last five meetings have been decided by one goal
Bryant won the most recent meeting, 2-1, back on Oct. 7, 2012

SCOUTING REPORT: BRYANT

Bryant (3-2) comes in having lost two of their last three games including a 1-0 loss at UMass Lowell last Thursday
Wednesday marks the first home game for the Bulldogs since defeating Iona, 2-0, back on August 21
The Bulldogs have faced two MAAC opponents thus far in 2016 and have left with wins in both games, defeating Iona (2-0) and Fairfield (1-0)
Allowing just 0.58 goals per game, Bryant's defense has shined in the early going with three shutouts already through five games
Five different players have scored goals in 2016 with Alison Guilmette and Caitlyn Linden each tied for the team-lead with three points
Nine different players have tallied at least one point for Bryant in five games this season
Through five games, Bryant has scored more than one goal just once
Bryant posted a record of 5-11-3 in 2015 with a conference mark of 4-2-2 in the NEC
Bryant bowed out in the NEC Semifinals, falling to Robert Morris 2-1

THREE-WAY TIE AT THE TOP
One of the highest scoring teams in the country this season, the Bobcats rank 21^st in the nation in goals per game (2.8) while also sitting 16^th in points per game (8.4). 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. There is a three-way tie atop the team leaderboard in points as Nadya Gill, Sarah Pandolfi and Ally Grunstein have each totaled seven while Al Pelletier and Jess Fontaine have posted five apiece.

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 five games for a per-game average (2.8) that sits tied for 13^th 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 Sarah Pandolfi's first goal against Delaware State, Jess Fontaine made a move up the Top 10 all-time career record list at Quinnipiac with 14 career assists. She is now tied for ninth with Elisa Goncalves '04. 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 five games in 2016, nine of the 14 Bobcat goals on the season have been scored by underclassmen. Sophomores Nadya Gill (three), 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 10^th 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 82^nd 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.