The Quinnipiac men’s soccer team (1-3, 0-0 MAAC) has yet another challenging weekend ahead of it after playing two tough opponents last weekend. The team lost to Boston College 2-0 and defeated Providence College 3-1.
Although Quinnipiac won the game against Providence the team lost defenseman Stevenson Hawkey to an injury. Hawkey was injured in the beginning of second half last Sunday and will be out for an undisclosed amount of time.
“It disrupts the rhythm a little bit but I think the team is deep enough that we can overcome that,” head coach Eric Da Costa said.
The defense played an important role in the success of the team last season, with Hawkey being one of the anchors of that defense. Da Costa will look to his bench to try and replace Hawkey. Junior Nick Lasewicz played in three games for the Bobcats last season, and could be an option for Da Costa.
“Lasewicz has stepped in on a couple occasions,” Da Costa said. “He’s sort of been our first option off the bench.”
The team is looking forward to playing Army (2-1-1, 0-0 Patriot) on Saturday in West Point, New York.
Quinnipiac has an overall 3-0-1 record against Army all-time. The last time the Bobcats played the Black Knights was September of 2013, which resulted in a tie.
“I think we have a good enough team to be able to break them down,” co-captain Borja Angoitia said. “I think as long as we put a good performance together I think the goals will come along.”
Angoitia was a pivotal player last season for the Bobcats and has proven to be a key player on the field this season as well. Angoitia has a career 1.18 goals against average in a Bobcats uniform. He will need to play at this level if the team looks to repeat as MAAC champions this season and return to the NCAA tournament. Angoitia will certainly have to take his play to another level this season, especially with the lack of scoring for the team.
Co-captain Tobias Esche thinks Angoitia is an important part of the team’s dynamic.
“He [Angoitia] talks a lot during the games which makes us more organized and, for me, most important he keeps the ball on the floor,” Esche said. “It gives the defense kind of like a comfort zone.”
Quinnipiac has struggled to score goals this season after last year’s leading goal scorer, Simon Hinde, graduated, yet Esche is sure of his team’s ability.
“We are really confident that we will score more after we’ve scored three goals,” he said.
The team has been practicing scoring opportunities over the past few weeks and looks to build off of the three-goal outburst against Providence.
Quinnipiac will travel to West Point, New York on Saturday to take on Army. The team then travel to Massachusetts to take on Holy Cross later in the week.
