On Saturday afternoon, the Marist Red Foxes defeated the Quinnipiac Bobcats 17-10, spearheaded by a tremendous second half effort.

Things started off strong for the Bobcats as a goal from junior attack Jake Tellers 1:15 into the game gave the Bobcats an early 1-0 advantage.

The rest of the quarter was all Red Foxes however as they scored four straight goals, before a goal from Bobcats senior midfielder Demitri George in the final seconds of the quarter stopped the bleeding.

The second quarter was a lot more even, as the Bobcats were able to cut the deficit from 4-2 to 6-5 heading into the break.

The quarter was highlighted by a goal from Quinnipiac senior long stick CJ Gallagher, who stole the ball from a Red Fox out of a timeout and sprinted down the field and eventually scored on a low rocket to tie the game at five.

This happened momentarily before the Red Foxes scored again to regain the advantage before the half.

The second half is when things began to fall apart for the Bobcats.

After scoring four straight goals to start the half and taking a commanding 10-5 lead, the Red Foxes preceded to trade goals with the Bobcats the rest of the way, to push their lead to 13-8 heading into the fourth quarter.

“We had a slow start. First five, six minutes in that third quarter, they expanded the lead to four or five goals,” Bobcats assistant head coach Alex Zomerfeld said. “We were trying to climb back into the game but were unable to.”

The third quarter surge for the Red Foxes was led by two goals from senior attack Jojo Pirreca and two goals from freshman attack Jake Deacy.

The second goal by Deacy was the highlight of the day as his behind the back shot not only gave the Red Foxes a 12-7 lead, but it left the crowd in awe.

The fourth quarter was a strong one for the Red Foxes as they were able to hold onto the lead led by a hattrick of goals from junior attack Kellen Pulera, who led the team with four goals on the day.

The Bobcats know they cannot let a game like this affect them for the rest of the season.

“Gotta be telling our guys one play at a time,” Zomerfield said. “Fortunately, with how poorly we have been playing this year we still have a fighting chance. So, getting those guys fired up for that, you know three conference games left that are a must win, so it’s a big wake up call for us.”

Despite the loss, the Bobcats were led by a hat trick from Tellers, who had a career day in terms of shots on goal, goals, assists, points, and minutes played.

The Bobcats will look to get back on track when they play Canisius at 12 p.m. on Saturday, April 9 on the road.