Rachel Papernik scored the Bobcats only goal in Sunday’s 4-1 loss against the nationally ranked Saint Joseph’s Hawks to fall to 4-9 on the season. 

No. 9  Saint Joseph’s University opened the scoring about halfway through the first quarter with a goal from Noa Schuringa. Quinnipiac answered back in the second quarter, thanks to senior Rachel Papernik’s second goal of the season. 

The Bobcats kept up with the Hawks in the first half and went into the locker room in a 1-1 tie. 

“The energy during halftime was really good,” senior Stella Tegtmeier said. “We were so hyped and so proud of ourselves that we kept them to 1-1 and we were so excited for the second half.” 

Many of Quinnipiac’s recent struggles have come from not playing at its best in the second half and it continued on Sunday. 

Saint Joseph’s went on to score three times in the second half, including twice in the fourth quarter to give the Hawks a 4-1 win, improving their season to a record of 10-3. 

Saint Joseph’s outshot Quinnipiac 8-7, with Bobcats goalie Nina Santore collecting four more saves to bring her season total to 18. 

Sunday’s loss for Quinnipiac was the sixth consecutive. During the skid, they have faced two nationally ranked teams in No. 12 UConn and No. 13 Old Dominion along with the top three teams in the Big East division including Liberty and Temple at No. 1 and No. 3, respectively. 

Although the Bobcats have hit a rough patch, their head coach, Becca Main, is optimistic the season can be turned around. 

“We were able to hang with a top 10 team in the country for about 40 minutes. That’s encouraging, that’s exciting. We’ve never been able to do that before,” Main said. 

Tegtmeier said, “It’s really great to see that we can keep up with them.” 

Main also said it is both “unfortunate and fortunate to be peaking when we’re playing top 10 teams.”

Main says this is because the way they have been playing on the field is not seen in numbers or wins.  She explains that even though the record may not reflect it, the Bobcats have been playing their best hockey as of late. 

“The best hockey I’ve seen us play was that first half and the start of the second half,” Main said. 

There is confidence among Main and the players that the team has a chance to go 6-0 in their final six games of the season in an attempt to make it to the NCAA Division I tournament. 

Quinnipiac field hockey will be back in action at home on Friday, Oct. 14 against conference rival Georgetown at 3 p.m. in Hamden.