By Philip Lentini, QBSN Staff Writer
On senior day, the Quinnipiac field hockey team defeated Rider University 3-2 to move into a tie for second place in the Northeast Conference. Both seniors on the team were front and center in the impressive win for the Bobcats, as Lauren Zimniski (Dallas, PA) scored her first career goal while Nicole Lewis (East Amherst, N.Y.) recorded 11 saves to keep Quinnipiac ahead.
The Bobcats came out hot at the start of the game and controlled the field of play for the first ten minutes of the half. The possession control for Quinnipiac led to the first goal of the afternoon, when Zimniski scored off a penalty corner at the 24 minute mark, assisted by Jennalise Taylor (Yardley, PA) and Christa Romano (Madison, N.J.).
On scoring her first career goal, Zimniski smiled and said “it was worth waiting five years for that feeling.”
Zimniski’s goal proved to be the loan production in a first half which was highlighted by strong defense and stronger goaltending.
Minutes into the second half, Quinnipiac forward Jess Rusin (Garwood, N.J) scored off of a deflection from Danielle Allan (Riverdale, N.J.) to put the Bobcat’s up 2-0.
Though it looked as if QU was going to run away with the game, Rider answered immediately with a goal of its own to bring the Broncs within one. Allison Muschs (Linkebeek, Belgium) beat a sprawled-out Lewis a mere 45 seconds after the Rusin goal.
Ten minutes later, Kristin Engelke (Medford, N.J.) increased the Bobcats lead to 3-1 off an assist from Zimniski. The lead stood for the next 20 minutes with the Quinnipiac defense offering a bend-don’t-break approach until the Broncs started its comeback.
With 2:30 left to go in the second half, Rider’s Gabby Burgo (Collingswood, N.J.) found the back of the cage to bring the Broncs within one goal for the second time of the afternoon.
That was as close as Rider would get however, as Quinnipiac held on for the final minutes to upset Rider. With the sound of the final whistle, the Bobcats stormed the field and celebrated their first win over Rider since 2006.
An overjoyed Zimniski described the victory as “just unreal.” She finished the game with a goal and an assist.
On the win, Lewis stated that the Quinnipiac victory “energizes the entire conference.”
With the victory, the Bobcats advance to 9-5 (2-1) on the year and look to keep their momentum as they prepare for their weekend series against NEC rivals Robert Morris University and St. Francis University.
