Quinnipiac Field Hockey battles to 1-0 victory over Vermont

Tom Krosnowski
September 22, 2019

Photos: Emma Robertson

It may have been a postcard-worthy day outside at the Quinnipiac Field Hockey Stadium on Sunday, but the ensuing game wasn’t nearly so picture-perfect.

The Bobcats (2-5, 0-1 Big East) scratched and clawed their way to a hard-fought 1-0 victory over the University of Vermont Catamounts (3-4, 0-0 America East) in what became a battle of the midfield. Both teams struggled to break through in the first half, combining for just three shots on net and no goals.

“We had been questioning our team’s guts and grittiness, and that came into play today,” head coach Becca Main said. “It was a pretty ugly game, it’s not often you play a game from the 25 [yard-line] to the 25 [yard-line] and bounce it back and forth. That’s one we maybe eked out because we stayed calm and composed.

“I thought we were classy and did a nice job of keeping our cool, which is good because we’re a very introverted team. It came in handy today against a team that is very aggressive, vocal and physical.”

After a first half that featured no penalty corners, the game-changer naturally came on one in the second half. Seniors Valerie Perkins and Ines Ruiz Martinez made crisp passes that set up graduate student Bianka Strubbe with an open shot, and she did not miss any of it. Strubbe’s laser pierced the Catamounts’ defense and found its way past goalkeeper Sierra Espeland for the only goal of the game.

For Strubbe, it’s just the latest accomplishment in what has been a breakout year. After a solid first year with the team last year as a transfer, Strubbe has taken a mammoth leap this year, leading the team in goals, points and shots. After an adjustment period coming over as an international student, Strubbe has only grown more comfortable this season.

Photos: Emma Robertson

“Last year I came in and was like a freshman, being a first-year student and I didn’t know how everything worked here,” Strubbe said. “Right now, I’m [like a] sophomore and I feel like I’m more comfortable and feel like I am doing a good job. The coaches are giving me a lot of freedom to play my field hockey and it works.”

“I think what’s really important is we had a spring season for [Bianka],” Main said. “When you have a spring season, we spend a lot of time on attack penalty corners, on drags and sweeps and hits … Her power and her ability to really take over a game at the right time is important.”

Although Strubbe’s goal gave Quinnipiac the edge, Vermont pulled out all the stops to try and tie the game back up, including a new strategy for this season in NCAA Field Hockey – pulling their goalkeeper for an extra player. Although the Catamounts didn’t score, they pressured the Bobcats and nearly got off a last-second chance.

“It gives you that opportunity [on defense] where you’ve got to buck up and get ready for it,” Main said. “An extra player in this sport makes a big difference, especially if they play it right, which I thought [Vermont] did a nice job with it. They almost had a chance at the end, which has a lot to do with having extra numbers in the circle.”

Freshman goalkeeper Hedda Biermann-Ratjen earned her fourth straight start, and exited with her second career shutout. She’s the first Quinnipiac goalie since Livy Golini in 2017 to notch more than one shutout in a season, and the season has only just begun.

Biermann-Ratjen’s next chance to impress will come on Friday at Georgetown, where the Bobcats will look to pick up their first Big East victory of the season.