By Rebecca Castagna, Online Editor
The Quinnipiac men’s soccer team lost 3-0 to the University of Hartford in the last non-conference home game of the season on Tuesday. The Hartford Hawks remain undefeated (6-0-2) as the Quinnipiac Bobcats move to (1-3-3).
The Bobcats made several attempts at taking the lead in the first half with two close shots from freshman James Doig (Liverpool, England) and junior Raphael Carvalho (Danbury, Conn.), but went into halftime scoreless.
Early in the second half, Hawks senior Anthony Santaga got a red card – but the Bobcats did not capitalize on their advantage and instead slowed their game down, according to head coach Eric Da Costa.
“[The red card] affected us more than it affected them,” Da Costa said. “It affects you mentally; the psychology of it is a little different. You think you have more time, you think you have more space, when reality is it doesn’t really affect the game all that much.”
In the 55th minute, Hawks’ junior Damion Lowe headed in a free kick and took the lead, despite being a man down. The goal ended junior Borja Angoitia’s (Bilbao, Spain) 263-minute scoreless streak for the season.
The Hawks racked up four yellow cards and 12 fouls, while the Bobcats totaled two yellow cards and 11 fouls in the contentious, physical matchup.
Quinnipiac made several attempts at scoring the equalizer but Hartford scored two more within the final minute instead.
In the 89th minute, sophomore Javoni Simms took a low shot off freshman Jeff Tryon’s assist. Then, with three seconds remaining in the second half, Lowe took a free kick from midfield that Angoitia misjudged, as it sailed right over his hands and into the net.
“It is what it is,” Da Costa said. “My biggest concern is some of the decisions that we made in crucial moments in the game … we need to be more dangerous around goal. We need to take our chances a lot better than we have been.”
Quinnipiac looks to bounce back on Saturday, Sept. 28 at Yale University.
