QU Women’s Soccer Wins 4-3 Overtime Thriller at Holy Cross

Friday, August 18

Linda Johnson Smith Soccer Stadium - Worcester, MA

7:05 PM

Quinnipiac University

1-0

Holy Cross

0-1

OT 2

Quinnipiac

Holy Cross

QU Women’s Soccer Wins 4-3 Overtime Thriller at Holy Cross

8/18/2017 10:44:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Al Pelletier Finds Nadya Gill for OT Game-Winner

By: QU Athletic Communications

WORCESTER, Massachusetts – Nadya Gill (Toronto, Ontario) was left open right in front of goal as Al Pelletier (Cheshire, Connecticut) whipped in a cross that was slammed home by the junior striker, capping a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory for Quinnipiac over Holy Cross.

SCORE
Quinnipiac 4 / Holy Cross 3 (Overtime)

LOCATION
Linda Johnson Smith Soccer Stadium / Worcester, Mass.

RECORDS
Quinnipiac (1-0, 0-0 MAAC) / Holy Cross (0-1, 0-0 Patriot)

NOTES

Nadya Gill (two goals, one assist) and Al Pelletier (two assists) littered the score sheet and connected for the game-winner
This back-and-forth duel featured four lead changes and three ties
Madison Borowiec opened the scoring for the Bobcats with her fourth career goal and first career goal via header
Gill drew a Holy Cross red card on Caroline Wallace as she was fouled on a breakaway in the 74^th minute…after Wallace was sent off, Gill stepped to the free kick opportunity from just outside the box and nailed one past the sprawling keeper to make it 2-2
With only 10 players, Holy Cross had little margin for error and Quinnipiac took advantage with the go-ahead goal with 9:36 remaining
Kelsey Goldring (Armonk, New York) was on the receiving end of a Gill pass at the far post and she made no mistake, beating the Holy Cross keeper five-hole to make it 3-2 Bobcats with less than 10 minutes remaining
Goldring joins a select list of Bobcats to score in their first career game as the last Quinnipiac player to do so was Gill in the 2015 season opener which was coincidentally also against Holy Cross (2-1 overtime win)
Holy Cross found the equalizer on an amazing 35-yard free kick from Ang Seslija that went bar-down to ignite the crowd and make it 3-3
The game-winner came 6:36 into the extra session as Pelletier sent in a perfect cross towards the box where Gill was waiting unmarked for the emphatic tally
Quinnipiac is 3-0 in their last three season openers
Last time Quinnipiac scored more than four goals in a game came in the 2010 season (W, 6-0 over FDU, 10/31/10)
Gill's five points is the second-highest point total in a game over her three-year career
Pelletier recorded two assists in a game for the second time in her career

QUOTES
Coach Clarke
"Really happy with the win. That's the way you want the season to start off, overcoming the pressure. We know it's a tough schedule for this year and to get a win, in the manner of which we won it, is fantastic."

"The one thing about college soccer is most teams that are successful are full of juniors and seniors. With most of our key players being in their junior season, they've been seasoned through two years of game situations, strength and conditioning and learning to win. And now they know what it's like, they've been in these situations before so can't take it away from them, good performance all-around, I'm very happy for the team."

Al Pelletier
"I am just so proud of everyone. As the coaches were saying a few years ago they would've never thought we'd come back and win in overtime. So I'm really proud of everyone. We left our hearts out on the field and there's nothing else we could ask for."

"All practices have been sending me down the corner, running as fast as I can and sending it back into the middle. I know it's not going to work every time but thankfully Nadya was there to finish it off."

Nadya Gill
"We rehearsed this all preseason. Our coaches kept our practices competitive, they were getting us ready for this kind of game so we just executed really well."

QUINNIPIAC GAME LEADERS
Points (Goals-Assists-Points): Gill (2-1-5), Pelletier (0-2-2), Borowiec (1-0-2), Goldring (1-0-2)
Goals: Gill 2 ('75, '97), Borowiec ('11), Goldring ('81)
Assists: Pelletier 2, Gill 1
Shots: Gill 4, Gargan 3, Goldring 2, Five Players with 1
Keeper (Saves): Myszewski (3)

UPCOMING GAMES
The Bobcats head back on the road for another night game as Quinnipiac will face Drexel for the first time on Monday at 7 PM in Philadelphia.