The Quinnipiac men’s soccer team (10-4-5, 7-0-4 MAAC) hosted the Fairfield Stags (8-4-7, 4-2-5 MAAC) in the semi-final round of the MAAC championships. The Bobcats were coming into this game as the MAAC regular season champions, undefeated in conference play as well as coming off a 2-0 victory at Fairfield last Wednesday. This was the Bobcats first game in their quest to repeat as MAAC champions. The Bobcats would fall to the Stags in penalty kicks, ending their reign MAAC champions much earlier than the team had hoped.
The first half proved uneventful as the Bobcats failed to posses the ball in the offensive zone, only generating two shots. The Stags also failed to pose a threat offensively with just two shots of their own in the first half.
The Bobcats stepped up their aggressiveness and tempo in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to get through the Stags’ backfield and by goalkeeper Matt Turner.
Fairfield stepped up their aggressiveness as well resulting in some chippy and physical play. Fairfield received a total of four yellow cards in the second half, and one more in overtime.
The Bobcats had their chance in extra time, as senior Ashton Pett unleashed a shot from the right side of the box that was stopped by Turner. The game would remain scoreless and eventually go to penalty kicks.
The Bobcats are no strangers to penalty kicks as they defeated Monmouth in penalty kicks to win the MAAC Championship last season.
Fairfield went 3 for 5 in the penalty kicks against senior Bobcat goalkeeper Borja Angoitia to win the game and advance to the MAAC championship on Sunday. The Bobcats were only able to score one goal in penalty kicks and it came off the foot of freshman John-John Diaz. Angoitia and juniors Tobias Esche and James Greco all missed their kicks.
The Bobcats finish their 2014 campaign with an overall record of 10-4-5 with an undefeated regular season conference record of 7-0-3.
“I couldn’t be any more proud of my players and how they performed this year,” head coach Eric Da Costa said. “I think once the sting wears off and the dust settles, we’ll be very proud of what we’ve accomplished not just this season but over the course of the careers of the seniors who will be moving on.”
The senior class that Da Costa speaks of includes perhaps the best goalkeeper in program history in Angoitia. Da Costa acknowledges that it will not be easy to replace these players and what they have meant to the program.
“It is immeasurable. It’s easy to replace players but not people. We’re losing six great people,” Da Costa said.
Although the season ends earlier than Da Costa and the Bobcats had hoped, there are still many things to take away from a season like this.
“There are so many, going unbeaten for twelve games is definitely something to be proud of,” Da Costa said. “You have to look at early September to find the last game we dropped, it’s a long run and not easy to maintain. We’re a tough team to beat, today just wasn’t our day.”
Fairfield will take on Monmouth on Sunday in Hamden for the MAAC championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
