Comeback Bid Falls Short for Bobcats in MAAC Semifinals

Friday, May 1

Fairfield, CT

12:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

10-8

#1 Fairfield

14-3

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Quinnipiac	1	4	3	1	9
Fairfield	4	2	4	3	13

Peyton Choma Looks to Pass Against Fairfield (May 1, 2026 in Hamden, Conn.)

Photo by: Rob Rasmussen / P8Photos.com

Comeback Bid Falls Short for Bobcats in MAAC Semifinals

5/1/2026 4:11:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

FAIRFIELD, Conn. — The Quinnipiac women's lacrosse team was able to claw back on multiple occasions on Friday afternoon but ultimately ran out of gas in the 2026 MAAC Semifinals, dropping a 13-9 decision to top-seeded Fairfield on Friday afternoon at Rafferty Stadium.

Falling down early, Quinnipiac rattled three consecutive goals to erase a 4-1 deficit, with Emma Miller-Ayala and Cate Bendowski combining to bring the game even at four apiece.

Miller-Ayala finds the back of the net! 🎯 pic.twitter.com/r7aXVO9KPy
— Quinnipiac Women's Lacrosse (@QU_WLAX) May 1, 2026

Fairfield scored the next two but a Bendowski tally cut the deficit to 6-5 and the Bobcats would kill a three-woman down stretch to keep the deficit at one heading to the second half.

Three-Woman Down: KILLED thanks to a pair of BIG defensive plays 😤#BobcatNation x #NCAALAX pic.twitter.com/MJNsPj2WuJ
— Quinnipiac Women's Lacrosse (@QU_WLAX) May 1, 2026

Fairfield grew its lead to three on multiple occasions, with Tessa Caputo giving the Stags a 10-7 lead with 3:59 to go. The Bobcats scored two in a row, cutting the deficit to 10-9 but the visitors could not get the tying goal as the Stags scored twice in 50 seconds to put the game out of reach.

Bendowski finished the day with seven points, scoring four goals and dishing three assists. Miller-Ayala and Julia Givens each finished with a pair of goals as well.

Shannon Alden made 11 saves on 24 shots on her cage.

STATS AND NOTES

Bendowski finished her season with 84 points, a new single-season Quinnipiac record and the most points by a MAAC player since 2022. It is 10^th all-time in MAAC history.
Her 50 assists are also one off the MAAC record, the most since Tierney Larson recorded 51 in 2013 for Marist.
Mia Delmond finished her Quinnipiac career with 140 goals to her name, good for third-most by a Bobcat ever and the most since Kyra Ochwat finished with 157 in 2015.
Miller-Ayala totaled 65 draw controls on the year, leading the team and finishing second in program history in that department.
Quinnipiac clinched its second consecutive MAAC postseason berth, a program-first, winning a game in each version of the tournament. They also advanced to the MAAC semifinals for the second time in program history.
With a 10-8 record, the Bobcats posted a winning season in consecutive years for the first time since 2010 and 2011.

For an inside look at the Quinnipiac women's lacrosse program, be sure to follow it on social media @QU_WLAX or go to gobobcats.com/wlax.