On a near-perfect day in Hamden, the Quinnipiac Bobcats men’s soccer team drew the Iona Gaels 1-1 on Saturday afternoon at the Quinnipiac Soccer and Lacrosse Stadium. Coming into this game Quinnipiac remained undefeated at home and Brage Aasen played his first home game back from injury.

In a very chippy matchup, the Bobcats scored one goal on 12 shots while the Gaels scored one goal on six shots. Bobcats goaltender Karl Netzell saved one while Gaels goaltender Juan Alfaro Monge saved seven. 

After struggling to get set up at the beginning of the first half, Quinnipiac found its footing and began getting set in Iona’s zone, however, they could not score. Iona made some mistakes in the half on top of Quinnipiac’s play, including some errant passes that led to shots but no score. 

At 36:22, shortly after the game’s first card was handed out, Iona’s Aly Camara scored a goal assisted by Sergio Gonzalez Fernandez, which would be their lone goal of the game and would hold almost entirely throughout. Late in the game, after some major substitutions made by Bobcats coach Eric Da Costa, Quinnipiac’s Jared Smith scored his second goal this season, assisted by Alexander Stjernegaard at 89:17 in a thrilling finish with so many possession changes. 

When asked about Aasen’s performance coming back from injury, Da Costa told us that he is becoming increasingly fit and will become a greater asset in the coming weeks.

Da Costa and Quinnipiac look to keep their momentum going against the Manhattan Jaspers on Wednesday as they move to a record of 3-1-1 in the MAAC and 8-3-2 overall