The Quinnipiac men’s soccer team have lost four of their last five games after a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to Niagara on Saturday. The Bobcats are now 7-6 overall and drop to 2-4 in the MAAC conference.  

The tale of two halves was the common theme against Niagara. Coming in, the Niagara Purple Eagles had not won at the Quinnipiac Soccer Stadium since September of 2016. 

In the first five minutes, Brage Aasen scored his eighth goal to give the Bobcats the early lead 1-0. Quinnipiac continued to control the possession early on and create opportunities to score. 

13 minutes into the game, Niagara capitalized off a set-piece from forward Jelldrik Dallmann to level the score at 1-1. Dallmann and Aasen are tied for first place with eight goals in the MAAC. 

The momentum was taken by Niagara, but Quinnipiac responded quickly and scored within two minutes to regain the lead. Sam McCann’s third goal of the season gave Quinnipiac a 2-1 lead going into halftime. The Bobcats had six shots on goal compared to Niagara’s one shot.

In the second half, Niagara made tactical adjustments as they were pressing Quinnipiac higher up the field. The reaction from Niagara gave Quinnipiac problems as the Purple Eagles created more goal-scoring opportunities. 

Yet, Niagara could not score until the 73rd minute in which midfielder Ali Alomari tied the game 2-2 going into the final 15 minutes. The Bobcats could not react as two minutes later, Dallmann scored his second goal in the 78th minute to give Niagara its first lead of the game. 

The Bobcats gave one last push to even the scoreboard as David Bercedo’s shot was saved by goalkeeper Josh Savoni in the 86th minute. The final whistle blew and Niagara completed their comeback to win 3-2 in Hamden. Niagara improved to 5-7-0 overall and 3-2 in conference play. Eric Da Costa’s squad had only one shot on goal in the second half, while Niagara had six shots. 

“I thought the first half we played well, I thought we should have had a few more goals but we conceded in the set-piece that is always frustrating and disappointing,” Da Costa said. “The second half was the opposite, as we did not deal with the pressure well enough. We struggled to get in a rhythm and get back on the ball. We needed to continue to do the things we did successfully in the first half.”

With the MAAC playoffs around the corner, Quinnipiac is currently in eighth place in the MAAC and needs to improve its team performances in order to climb back up in the standings.

Niagara’s next game will be on the road against Saint Peter’s on Wednesday, Oct. 20.  As for the Bobcats, they will have a full week to rest in which their next game will be on Saturday, Oct. 23 at home against Monmouth.