The Quinnipiac Bobcats (0-2, 0-0 MAAC) hosted the Lafayette Leopards (2-0, 0-0 Patriot) on Sunday afternoon to close out the first annual Longstreth/Bobcat Classic. Despite having a 2-0 lead late in the second half the Bobcats fell to the Leopards 3-2 in overtime.
The Leopards came out strong in the first half with their first goal scoring opportunity coming just five minutes in to the game. Quinnipiac senior goalkeeper Megan Conaboy stayed strong in net and kept the game scoreless despite the early attack by the Leopards. Lafayette got their best opportunity of the first half off of a corner with 24 minutes remaining in the half off a Brittany Blass shot, but Conaboy made the save again.
The Bobcats were then able to capture the momentum and keep the ball at the Leopard’s end. Quinnipiac senior Danielle Allan capitalized on this momentum with the first goal of the afternoon with 4:02 left in the first half. Quinnipiac junior Meghan McCullough sent the ball out front, giving Allan the opportunity to tip it past Lafayette’s goalkeeper Jessica Deutsch to give Quinnipiac the 1-0 lead.
In the second half, Quinnipiac used their late first half goal to give them the momentum they needed to continue into the second half. Registering two more corners and another shot on net by Allan, the Bobcats kept the pressure on the Leopard’s defense. Allan would strike again capitalizing on a rebound to push the ball just past Deutsch to give the Bobcats a 2-0 lead with 13:27 left in the half.
Lafayette then picked up its game, returning the ball to Quinnipiac’s half of the field for the remaining 13 minutes. Lafayette freshman Rosie Shanks tipped in a return cross ball sent by freshman Ellen Colbourne to cut Quinnipiac’s lead in half with five minutes left in the game.
In desperation mode, Lafayette pulled its goalie with 1:30 left in regulation. With an extra player and another corner opportunity with no time left in regulation, Lafayette was able to play out the corner. Shanks netted another goal off the corner to tie it up and send the game to overtime.
“It’s real hard when you’re up 2-0 and you’re playing really good hockey against a really good team that you had the opportunity to scout yesterday,” Quinnipiac head coach Becca Main said. “So for us, I think we made crucial mistakes. We made our own bed and we had to lay in it.”
Lafayette kept up its intensity, and pushed Quinnipiac back on defense. Conaboy kept up her strong presence in net, rising to help her teammates and registering three saves already nine minutes in to overtime. After Conaboy sent the ball up to the top of the circle, Brittany Blass took a drive from the 16-yard line to give Lafayette the goal they needed, ending the game with 3:34 left in overtime.
“I think for us we are playing a bit beyond our years and I’m pretty proud of that and I’m pretty pleased with that,” Main said. “Being a group of young players that have not played together and also have never played college hockey they’ve had quite a week and I’m very proud of them.”
Quinnipiac looks to improve its record and pick up its first win of the season on Sunday, Sept. 7 when the Bobcats host the Penn State Lions at noon.
