By Kevin Noonan, QBSN Staff Writer
With just four minutes remaining in the second overtime, junior Beck Kiting (Canberra, Australia) scored the game-winning goal to propel the Quinnipiac Bobcats past the Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers with a 1-0 in Northeast Conference action.
Senior Crystal Burns (Overland Park, Kan.) took the corner kick for the Bobcats (8-4-2, 4-2-1), which had a beautiful loft as it came into the goal box. Kiting awaited the ball on the six-yard line before heading the ball into the side net to win the game.
“Dave [Clarke] actually made a comment during the week about how girls don’t really get goals off headers, especially off corners and free kicks,” Kiting said. “I just wanted to prove him wrong on that one.
Whether it was intentional or not, Clarke’s comments to his team this past week stuck in the minds of his players.
“The first thing that came in to my mind was ‘Yeah, I got a goal’ and really just wanted to stick it in Dave’s face a little bit and show him that we can do that,” Kiting said jokingly
The Bobcats had plenty of scoring opportunities throughout a game in which they dominated play from the opening kickoff, outshooting the Mountaineers (7-7-1, 2-3-1 NEC) 11-5.
Quinnipiac took advantage of the weather in the first half, as it was playing with the wind. Mount St. Mary’s struggled to clear the ball out, causing them to be on the defensive throughout the entire half.
Junior Aine McKeever (Derry City, Ireland) came close to connecting on two free kicks for the Bobcats from right outside the goal box, both shots just barely being saved by Mountaineer starting goalkeeper Rachel Bourne.
Despite going against the wind in the second half, the Bobcats continued to outplay Mount St. Mary’s and continued to come closer to scoring a goal. Burns took a free-kick from about 35 yards out and had it bounce over the cross bar, bringing about gasps from both benches.
Minutes later, senior Shauna Edwards (Southington, Conn.) ripped a left-footed shot that ricocheted off the foot of a Mountaineer defender. Substitute goalkeeper Vicky Cocozza dove to her right but, fortunately for her, the shot bounced off the post.
Both teams put on furious attempts at the end of regulation to put a goal in the back of the net, but neither could pull off a victory in regulation.
“When you only play 10 games … every game has a huge importance. Had we lost today, we’d probably fall to seventh place and be behind Mount St. Mary’s,” Clarke said.
The Bobcats scored on Kiting’s header six minutes into the second overtime, capping the Senior Day festivities.
Senior Jill Kelley (Simsbury, Conn.) recorded her sixth shutout of the season for the Bobcats, recording two saves in the victory.
Not only did the Bobcats lead in offensive categories, they also had the most fouls in the game. Quinnipiac recorded 22 fouls and four yellow cards while Mount St. Mary’s picked up 16 fouls and a yellow card.
The Bobcats impressive season continues after having won two out of the last three games and are beginning preparations for a potential postseason run.
“Now, we’ve got a huge game against Sacred Heart on Friday,” Clarke said. “A win there puts one foot into the playoffs, which was the goal all along.”
