By Taylor Massey, QBSN Staff Writer

Returning to its home field after two road games the Quinnipiac women’s soccer team defeated intrastate rival, the Hartford Hawks, 1-0. The Bobcats advance to 4-0-1 on the season and continue their unbeaten streak.

The first and only goal of the game came just 10 minutes into the first half. Amanda Barroca (Bellmore, N.Y.) hustled down the line to work a cross over to freshman Shannon Larkin (Burlington, Conn.) in front of the net. Larkin was easily able to kick the ball over Hawk goalkeeper Erin Quinlin and into the back of the net. Barroca tallied her first career assist with the goal.

“Amanda is such a great player and she dribbles past people all the time,” said Larkin. “I knew that I needed to get up there because I knew that a perfect cross was going to be coming.”

For the remainder of the game the Bobcats defense was impenetrable. This enabled the offense to spend plenty of time handling the ball. However, they were unable to capitalize on another goal to extend their lead.

“We had to dig deep,” said head coach Dave Clarke. “Fitness was a factor, mentality was a factor ,and they’re the games we would have lost last year and that’s a big step for a young team.”

Quinnipiac’s only other scoring opportunity also came from one of the younger players on the team. Barroca dodged several Hartford players on her way to the net. After blowing through the Hawk defense Barroca’s shot was saved by Quinlin. The goal would have been the freshman’s first as a Bobcat.

Bobcat goalie Jill Kelley (Simsbury, Conn.) stood guard between the posts for her third shut out of the season. Kelley was only challenged once by Hartford and made the save to keep the Bobcats in the lead.

The Bobcats ended with a 3-2 advantage on shots over the Hawks. Quinlin made three saves to hold Quinnipiac to one goal.

Luckily for the six new freshmen, they have a talented group of upperclassmen to push them to do their best.

“Especially in the system we’re playing in now it requires a lot of hard work and you can get tired pretty quick, but you have your teammates there pushing for you and it helps,” said Larkin.

Hoping to continue its win streak, Quinnipiac’s next game will take place this Wednesday Sept. 14 on its home field at 4 p.m. The Bobcats will take on the Harvard Crimson who are 2-1-1 overall.