Men’s Soccer Defends Home Field With 2-0 Win
Quinnipiac men’s soccer defeated the Lafayette Leopards in their second home game of the season Sunday, 2-0— kicking off its first game of a three game home stand.
Coming into the game both teams had been struggling to put the ball in the back of the net, as Lafayette (0-4-0) continued its scoring drought, posting a fourth game this season without a goal. The Leopards peppered the Bobcats goalkeepers with 17 shots on goal, but were unable to break through.
Quinnipiac’s (2-2-0) freshman goalkeeper Chrysostomos Iakovidis picked up a knock in the 63rd minute of game and was replaced by senior backup goalie Brian Westerman. Lafayette wasn’t able to test Westerman much once he entered the game as he only needed to save the ball once in the 27 minutes he played in.
The play of the Bobcats younger forwards was a major part of the Bobcats success. Freshmen Eamon Whelan got the Bobcats on the board first after an excellent back heel assist by his forward partner Sophomore Rashawn Dally.
Both underclassmen forwards were real threats in the box with their link up play. Dally also created an excellent goal scoring opportunity in the second half when he rushed the goal from the left side and was able to fake out the Lafayette defenders with several fake crosses before calmly passing the ball to a trailing Matthew Taylor who easily put the ball in the back of the net.
“Eamon did well he finished his goal really well. It was a great team goal but he’s got to be a little more consistent,” Quinnipiac head coach Eric Da Costa said. “He had a few other really good chances that he should have done better with, and hopefully with a bit more experience he’ll put those away or at least put them on target.”
Senior James Doig and Juniors Shaquille Huggins and Max Rothenbuecher was another key to helping the Bobcats emerge victorious in the midfield. The trio set the tone early with lots of key passes and dribble moves to help get the Bobcats offense rolling and came up big on the defensive side of the ball as well.
Coach Da Costa believed that his upperclassmen did very well at trying to help set the tone for his younger players, though the offense only mustered eight shots on goal.
“Today was a step forward the upperclassmen our veteran players with so many new players those guys are pivotal to making sure the transition goes as smoothly as possible,” Da Costa said. “We still want some more leadership out of them— we still want some more vocal leadership from them in order for us to not make as many silly mistakes on the field.”
Quinnipiac plays the second game of their three game home stand on Saturday against UMass Lowell at 2pm.
