QU Women's Lacrosse Puts Win Streak on the Line at Marist on Saturday

Saturday, April 8

Tenney Stadium - Poughkeepsie, NY

1:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

Marist

QU Women's Lacrosse Puts Win Streak on the Line at Marist on Saturday

4/7/2017 1:58:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Bobcats Overcame Three-Goal Deficits on the Road in Two Straight Wins

By: QU Sports Information

Quinnipiac Bobcats (3-8, 2-1 MAAC) at
Marist Red Foxes (5-6, 1-1 MAAC)
Saturday, April 8, 2017 – 1:00 PM
Tenney Stadium at Leonidoff Field – Poughkeepsie, NY
All-Time Series vs. Marist: Quinnipiac leads 5-4
Last Meeting: L, 13-2 (2016 – Hamden, Conn.)

Follow the Game
Live Stats: GoRedFoxes.com
Live Video: GoRedFoxes.com
Twitter: @QU_WLAX

Winners of two straight, the Quinnipiac women's lacrosse team heads back on the road for a big Saturday matchup at Marist. Off to their best start in conference play since 2012, the Bobcats look to prolong their unbeaten streak against a Marist team Quinnipiac has lost to three straight times since joining the MAAC in 2014. First draw from Tenney Stadium in Poughkeepsie is set for 1:00 PM.

LAST GAME
Sophomore Allison Kuhn whipped around the cage, darted in front of goal and struck for the game-winner, sealing a 14-13 come-from-behind overtime victory at Iona on Wednesday. Kuhn's thrilling tally sealed yet another three-goal comeback for the Bobcats as the victory marked the third time in 2017 that Quinnipiac has overcame a three-goal second half deficit to win. Kyle Larkin spearheaded a sensational defensive effort in the second half, allowing just three Iona goals over the final 30+ minutes of play on her way to a 13-save outing. Quinnipiac held a 9-4 lead before Iona ripped off an 8-0 run to give the Gaels a 12-9 lead with 14 minutes remaining. The Bobcats, however, responded with a 3-0 run to tie the score and later got a game-tying goal from Kuhn with 37 seconds remaining that made it 13-13 and sent the game into overtime.

SCOUTING THE RED FOXES
Marist comes in with a mark of 5-6 overall and 1-1 record in MAAC play as Saturday's contest represents the first conference home game for the Red Foxes in 2017. Having struggled of late, Marist had lost three straight before handling Manhattan on the road, 16-9, on Wednesday. Having been away from home for the majority of the season (nine games on the road compared to just two in Poughkeepsie), this home game for Marist signals the first time the Red Foxes host a game at Tenney Stadium since February 28 (seven straight road games). Marist is a dynamic offensive team despite having graduated the 2016 MAAC Offensive Player of the Year Allison Gionta who finished last season with the second-highest single-season scoring record in MAAC history with 88 points. Relying this season heavily on Olivia Pitonzo, the senior comes in leading the MAAC in assists per game (2.27) and ranking third in the league in points per game (4.09) while totaling 45 points (20 goals, 25 assists) through 11 games in 2017. Samantha Mehalick leads the Red Foxes in goals (25) while Marist fields three players (Mehalick 25, Pitonzo 20 and Natalie Bonaroti 20) who have at least 20 goals on the season. Seven players in total for Marist have at least 15 points on the season. Abigail Witczak has played every minute in goal for the Red Foxes and she comes in with 12.09 goals-against average, .492 save percentage and 5-6 record. Gabby Childrose leads the defensive unit with 19 ground balls and 12 caused turnovers.

SERIES HISTORY
Quinnipiac's move to the MAAC signaled a resumption of the Bobcats' annual rivalry with the Red Foxes that the two teams enjoyed for a majority of the first six years since QU joined the Div. I ranks (1998-99). Quinnipiac owns an all-time record of 5-4 against the Red Foxes but last defeated Marist all the way back on March 21, 2004 with a 15-10 win at home. The last win for QU in Poughkeepsie was a 13-11 win on April 23, 2002. Marist won in dominating fashion in Hamden last season, defeating the Bobcats 13-2.

COMEBACK CATS
After going more than two full seasons without coming back from a three-goal deficit in the second half, Quinnipiac has managed to overcome three-goal second half deficits in each of their three wins this season (10-9 over CCSU, 12-11 at Manhattan, 14-13 in overtime at Iona). Prior to the start of 2017, Quinnipiac had gone 38 games without accomplishing the feat as their last win before the start of the season when trailing by at least three in the second half came on March 29, 2014 as the Bobcats trailed Manhattan 10-6 before coming all the way back to win 12-11.

OVERCOMING IN OVERTIME
Quinnipiac's 14-13 overtime win at Iona signaled the first time the Bobcats won an overtime decision since defeating Iona 13-12 back on March 6, 2013. The Bobcats had lost their last three straight overtime games prior to defeating the Gaels on the road.

HLESCIAK HERE TO SCORE
Alex Hlesciak's 2017 season has been a revelation as the senior comes in with 22 goals in 11 games played thus far while also adding 20 draw controls, 11 ground balls and seven caused turnovers. The 22 goals scored leads the team while easily setting a new career high as Hlesciak came into the season with 18 career goals through her first three seasons (40 games) as a Bobcat. Hlesciak most-recently tallied four goals (all in the first half) in a win over Iona, marking the third hat trick of her career (all in 2017). Since the start of MAAC play, she has compiled eight goals in three games.

LARKIN'S LEAP
Kyle Larkin's play in the cage has been stellar over the last eight games as she has accumulated 96 saves (12 per game) over that span. She has recorded double digit saves in three straight games, while increasing her total to 14 double-digit save outings for her career. Her lowest single-game save percentage in that eight-game span is an impressive .479 while she has saved at least 50 percent of all shots-on-goal in five of the last eight games. Larkin's goals against average stands at 11.87 in the stretch while she has posted a staggering .497 cumulative save percentage.

FLARE FOR THE DRAMATIC
Quinnipiac's leading scorer Allison Kuhn (17-7-24) has had a flare for the dramatic all season, as the sophomore has produced two game-winning goals while assisting on the game-tying goal in the Bobcats' win over Manhattan (4/1). With her team trailing 8-5 against CCSU (2/18), Kuhn scored or assisted on four of the five goals in a game-deciding 5-0 run for Quinnipiac over a 10-minute span. Facing a 10-8 deficit at Manhattan with 10 minutes remaining, Kuhn scored the game-tying goal that made it 10-10 and later assisted on Ellie Swenson's game-tying goal to make it 11-11, all prior to Ashley Bobinski's game-winner. Finally, in an overtime win at Iona (4/5), Kuhn scored with 37 seconds remaining to tie the score and send the game into the extra session before coming through scoring the game-winner in OT.

SUDDEN SURGE
Moved into more of a goal-scoring position on offense, Ellie Swenson has come through with solid showings since the start of MAAC play. In three conference games, Swenson posted two points against Monmouth and struck for her first career hat trick at Manhattan for a total of five points (four goals, two assists). The six-point total eclipsed her entire output from her freshman season in 2016 (five points) while she has nine points (7-3-10) thus far in the 2017 season.

LAST MINUTE MAGIC
Ashley Bobinski's game-winning free position tally with nine seconds left in a 12-11 win at Manhattan (4/1) marked the first time the Bobcats won on a goal in the final minute of play since March 28, 2013 (63 games ago). In that game, Maria Blois scored the game-winner with 10 seconds remaining as the Bobcats defeated Bryant, 16-15.

LEADING THE WAY
Quinnipiac's leading scorer in 2017 Allison Kuhn (17-7-21) has come alive since MAAC play started as she has compiled 12 points (9-3-9) in three league games. Kuhn went off at Manhattan and matched her career high with five goals while adding one assist for a game-high six points. The 2016 MAAC All-Rookie selection is on pace to shatter her freshman year total of 27 (19-8-27).

DEFENSIVE DYNAMO
One season after leading the MAAC in both caused turnovers and ground balls per game, junior Preseason All-MAAC First Teamer Kiera Kelly is back at it again with her strong one-on-one defensive play. Currently leading the team in ground balls (36) and caused turnovers (24), Kelly leads the MAAC in caused turnovers per game (2.18) and ranks second in ground balls per game (3.27) while she sits first among field players in that category. In her career, Kelly already ranks third all-time at Quinnipiac in caused turnovers (80) while she sits sixth in ground balls (129).

SENIOR MOMENT
Alex Hlesciak played the game of her life against Fresno State (3/16) as the senior racked up a career high five goals in a 9-8 loss to the Bulldogs. In 45 games prior to the match at Fresno State, Hlesciak tallied a single-game high of two goals on six different occasions. She exploded for five goals, more than double her previous career-best, while scoring four straight goals for the Bobcats. Hlesciak added a second career hat trick at UMass Lowell (3/22) and now leads the Bobcats with 18 goals this season, four more than sophomore Allison Kuhn in second place with 14 through 10 games.

SHUTTING THE DOOR
Junior goalkeeper Kyle Larkin has played some of the best lacrosse of her career in the last week as she racked up a career high 16 saves in a loss to UC Davis (3/12) and then passed that with 19 saves in a loss to Hofstra (3/18). Larkin posted 11 of her 16 saves in the first half alone against UC Davis, surpassing her previous career high of 14 from a road game at Siena last season, and then had 11 of her 19 saves against Hofstra in the second half.

NEW SEASON…NEW TEAM
Trailing by three in the second half, Quinnipiac answered with five straight goals to catapult the Bobcats out front and ultimately to a season-opening 10-9 victory over CCSU (2/18). A resounding come-from-behind victory to open the career of first-year head coach Tanya Kotowicz at Quinnipiac, the victory stands as the first win in a season opener for the Bobcats since defeating UConn, 11-10, all the way back in the 2009 season (seven straight season-opening losses prior to tonight's win). Incredibly, Quinnipiac's win marks just the fourth victory in a season opener in the 19 seasons since joining the NCAA Div. I ranks (1999).

INSTANT IMPACT
Freshman Ashley Bobinski's first career game certainly stands out as one to remember as she scored four goals on four shots to make her the highest-scoring rookie in her debut as a Bobcat in program history. The last rookie to post a hat trick in her debut with Quinnipiac came back in 2012 as Kyra Ochwat tallied three goals against UConn. Bobinski scored three times, securing her hat trick after 17 minutes of play, which she added one more in the second half to give her a team-leading four tallies while igniting the game-deciding 5-0 second half run. Bobinski also had a two-goal, one-assist performance to have a hand in three of Quinnipiac's four goals in a loss at Hofstra (3/18).