On Wednesday afternoon, the Quinnipiac women’s soccer team beat Rider 5-0, which kept them undefeated both at home and in MAAC play.  

The game started off slow for both sides as for the first 15 minutes, neither team could build momentum, as play mainly stayed in the middle of the field. 

It looked like the Bobcats would be able to get on the board first around the 14-minute mark. Courtney Chocol went in on a breakaway, but it was turned away by the Broncs junior goalkeeper Ellie Sciancalepore. 

Moments later, after junior midfielder Emely Van Der Vliet drew a penalty, Quinnipiac forward and leading goal scorer Rebecca Cooke stepped up to take the penalty, but Sciancalepore made the save 

The scoring was eventually opened up by senior forward Paige Laberge whom after the Bobcats were able to force a turnover and create a counterattack, was able to cut inside at the 18-yard line onto her right foot and buried a shot into the bottom corner. 

“Once we get the first one, we know we’re going to win,” Laberge said. “I think the confidence coming from ourselves, our teammates on the bench, from our coaches … having so much support, it’s just a really good feeling.” 

The goals kept coming as the Bobcats were able to add a second goal before the half when junior forward Olivia Kudrikow touched over a pass in the box from a throw-in over to sophomore midfielder Ella Gagno and she was able to finish it into the bottom corner.

That would be all the scoring for the first half 

It was not clear what head coach Dave Clarke said to the team at the half, but whatever it was it clearly worked as in the second half, the Bobcats scored two goals in the first five minutes. 

It started when Chocol came in on a breakaway 90 seconds into the half to make it 3-0. This was followed up a few moments later by Cooke scoring a one-touch volley into the upper corner to seemingly put this one out of reach at 4-0. 

The goal was Cookes 18th on the season which ties her for the most in the country. 

“For us, we just need to stay composed,” said first-year defender Molly Andrews. “Stick to what we’ve learned so far.” 

The scoring was concluded when first-year forward Morgan Cupo headed a corner into the path of sophomore midfielder Anna Costello, who made no mistake, burying it into an open net. 

Despite being up by multiple goals for the majority of the game, the Bobcats never took their foot off the pedal as they continued to work hard and push for another goal. 

“Everything we do we play like we’re one nill up,” Clarke said. “Not four, not three, not two, it can be hard for the opposing team to hear that, but that’s what is striding the monsoon.” 

The Bobcats will look to keep on rolling as they are back in action when they play Iona at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 15 in New Rochelle, NY.