The stage was set for Quinnipiac men’s soccer (1-5-1, 0-0 MAAC) final out-of-conference match of the season as the No. 14 University of New Hampshire Wildcats (6-0-2, 0-0 America East) entered this game only allowing one goal against. UNH entered this game drawing two out of their last three against Rhode Island and Columbia while defeating Holy Cross 2-0. The Bobcats meanwhile, came into this contest off of a 1-0 home loss to the Fordham Rams. Quinnipiac also hasn’t won their last three games. Some unfamiliarity was expected on both sides since the last time these teams squared off was in 2005, where Quinnipiac fell 2-0.
The Wildcats undoubtedly set the tone of the game assertively dominated possession and ball movement in the opening minutes. The scoring opportunities would begin to pile up as UNH forced multiple corners to be taken in the attacking third, one of which Quinnipiac goalkeeper Chrysostomos Iakovidis had to make a brilliant save on. Iakovidis’ work was never done throughout the game though as he made another vital save from an odd man rush. The Greece native came off his line to cut down the angle and force a difficult shot, which deflected off his arm and went wide just 14 minutes in.
However, despite the excellent goalkeeping on the part of Iakovidis, the Wildcats’ persistency did not go anywhere. Freshman Josh Bauer made an accurate pass to sophomore forward Jack Doherty, who bolted down the near sideline and struck a shot under Iakovidis and into the bottom-left corner of the net. This was Doherty’s first goal of the season, and it ended up being the difference and the game-winner.
Quinnipiac head coach Eric Da Costa wasn’t pleased with his defensive for the way they executed on the game’s only goal.
“We over-committed on that one goal scored,” Da Costa said. “Our defense broke down and they took advantage of the shooting lane we gave them.”
Iakovidis stood tall in net as he made several other saves in the first half to keep the game scoreless. With these acrobatic saves came little momentum towards the latter stages of the first half. Quinnipiac’s first corner kick of the game ricocheted off a header and tipped the crossbar. Although the tides started to turn a bit towards Quinnipiac’s favor, UNH held on to a 1-0 halftime lead.
The start of the second half was very reminiscent to the first: UNH dominated possession and ball movement. The first 20 minutes consisted of many moderate scoring chances for the Wildcats, but none reached the back of the net.
The Bobcats almost made UNH pay for not extending their lead as their best scoring chance of the game arrived with 25 minutes left in the second half. It all started with a bending, yet accurate cross from afar that landed right onto the right foot of senior Filosmar Cordeiro, who ripped a hard shot that drilled the post so hard, it left the net shaking. The missed opportunity left Cordeiro’s arms up in the air with disappointing and frustrating facial expressions.
Cordeiro was more focused on the positive takeaways from the game despite missing a glorious scoring chance.
“This was an important game for the whole team today,” Cordeiro said. “It gets us ready for conference play because everyone knows what we have to do to win tough games like this one.”
As the second half winded down, the Bobcats wouldn’t quit as the momentum began to swing in their direction. They earned two more good looks in the attacking zone from freshman Paulo Soares and junior Rashawn Dally. Despite the high amount of chances the Bobcats earned offensively, their efforts fell short against the Wildcats.
Da Costa acknowledges the amount of scoring chances his squad had, but is happy that his team played with a sense of urgency and pride.
“We had our fair share of chances in this game,” Da Costa said. “We held our own against one of the best teams in the nation.”
Quinnipiac’s James Doig is happy to compete against top teams, but recognizes that they outplayed them today.
“There’s many positives to take away from this game,” Doig said. It was a full team effort, we played well all around, and we came up just short.”
Men’s soccer will conclude their three-game home-stand, yet begin their conference play as they prepare for the Fairfield Stags on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
