Bobcats Return Home to Host Niagara

Wednesday, October 24

Hamden, Conn.

2:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

Niagara

10/23/2018 12:51:00 PM | Men's Soccer

By: QU Sports Information

Quinnipiac Bobcats (7-5-2, 5-1-1 MAAC) at
Niagara Purple Eagles (3-12-0, 1-6-0 MAAC)
Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2018 | 2:00 PM
Quinnipiac Soccer Stadium | Hamden, Conn.
LIVE STATS | WATCH

HAMDEN, Conn. – Quinnipiac men's soccer returns home on Wednesday, playing host to Niagara in more conference action from the Quinnipiac Soccer Stadium.

LAST TIME OUT

Quinnipiac men's soccer played to a scoreless tie vs. top-seeded Fairfield on Saturday night at Lessing Field.
With the draw, the Bobcats grab another point in the conference standings to move in to a tie with Marist for the second seed.
Chrysostomos Iakovidis (Thessaloniki, Greece) was impressive in goal for the Bobcats, making eight stops to earn his first shutout of 2018. The junior punched a Fairfield shot out of harms way less than five minutes into the second half, then made a diving two-handed save on a Stags' restart later in the half. Iakovidis is 2-2-1 so far in 2018, and has 15 career shutouts.

SCOUTING NIAGARA

Niagara is 1-6-0 in league play, and has lost three-straight contests vs. Canisius, Saint Peter's and Manhattan.
The Purple Eagles are led offensively by Luca Pacheco, who has four goals and three assists for 11 total points.
The Bobcats are 5-1-1 all-time against the Purple Eagles.
Quinnipiac traveled to Niagara for the meeting between the two programs in 2017, downing the Purple Eagles (2-0) on Sept. 30 behind goals from senior captains Max Rothenbuecher (Munich, Germany) and James Doig (Liverpool, England)

WINNING WAYS

Quinnipiac has now won seven of its last nine contests, outscoring opponents 16-8 in that span.
The Bobcats have scored multiple goals in seven of 14 games this season.

HEAD COACH ERIC DA COSTA

Quinnipiac head coach Eric Da Costa is in his 14th season at the helm of the Bobcats' program, becoming the longest tenured men's soccer coach in Quinnipiac's NCAA history.
With the win on Sept. 26 at Canisius, Da Costa secured his 100th career victory as the Bobcats' head coach. He now has 104 total wins in his career at Quinnipiac.

EAMON'S EXCELLENCE

Eamon Whelan (New Fairfield, Conn.) has scored 10 goals in Quinnipiac's 14 matches, the most of any MAAC player so far this year. His 10 goals rank tied for 20^th nationally.
Whelan also ranks tied for 16^th nationally with four game-winning goals.
The junior now has 23 goals in two-plus years with the program.

PROGRAM HISTORY FOR DALLY

Rashawn Dally (Bloomfield, Conn.) has now played in 73 career contests, which ranks No. 11 in Quinnipiac program history.

MIGHTY MAZZOLA

Jarred Mazzola (Katonah, N.Y.) has started nine of the last 11 games in net for the Bobcats, earning a win in six of his last seven starts.
The goalkeeper has posted a 0.96 goals-against average in his first year with the program.
Mazzola has recorded 4.78 saves per contest so far in 2018, which ranks No. 20 nationally.

MAAC WEEKLY AWARDS
The Bobcats have won three individual conference weekly awards so far this season:

Eamon Whelan – MAAC Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 3, 2018)
Oriac Vila Rotxes – MAAC Rookie of the Week (Sept. 17, 2018)
Eamon Whelan – MAAC Offensive Player of the Week (Oct. 22, 2018)

PRESEASON ACCOLADES

Junior Conor McCoy (Newry, Northern Ireland) was named to the 2018 Preseason All-MAAC Team, the conference announced on Aug. 14.
The Bobcats were picked to finish fourth by the league's head coaches.

2018 LEADERSHIP COUNCIL

Quinnipiac head coach Eric Da Costa named the program's leadership council for 2018, which includes senior Derek Parker (Cromwell, Conn.), senior Matthew Taylor (Dublin, Ireland), junior Conor McCoy (Newry, Northern Ireland), sophomore Paulo Soares (Quincy, MA), and sophomore Simon Hillinger (Ditzingen, Germany).

LAST SEASON

Quinnipiac went 8-9-2 (6-2-0 MAAC) in 2017, earning the No. 5 seed in the 2017 MAAC Men's Soccer Championship.
The Bobcats defeated No. 4 Manhattan in the MAAC Tournament quarterfinals, then fell in penalty kicks at No. 1 Fairfield in the semifinal round.
The program returns three student-athletes that earned All-MAAC honors in 2017. Rashawn Dally (Bloomfield, Conn.) and Conor McCoy (Newry, Northern Ireland) were named to the All-MAAC Second Team, and freshman Paulo Soares (Quincy, MA) was named to the All-MAAC Rookie Team.