The Sacred Heart Pioneers traveled to Hamden, CT, to take on the Quinnipiac Bobcats in each of their last games of the regular season on Sunday afternoon. Quinnipiac has beaten Sacred Heart in their last 10 games against each other. In their last meeting, the Bobcats shutout the Pioneers 3-0, and very similar events occurred in today’s matchup.

The Bobcats have been without star player, sophomore forward Emilia Massarelli, for the past three games, but that has not slowed them down. The win today caused the Bobcats to finish out the season on a three-game winning streak.

Quinnipiac started the first quarter strong with a quick opportunity to score off a penalty corner, which they were successful at. Senior midfielder Eva Veldhorst sent it straight to the middle of the attacking zone toward junior midfielder Micaela Grajales and senior midfielder Olivia Howard. Grajales took possession first, passing it to Howard who scored the first goal of the game.

A second penalty corner was awarded to the Bobcats just seven minutes later; however, this one was unsuccessful, causing the score to remain 1-0.

Sacred Heart was awarded a penalty corner with just four seconds left in the first quarter, which was ultimately unsuccessful.

Quinnipiac received five penalty corners in the second quarter alone; however, all five were unsuccessful and saved beautifully by the Pioneer’s sophomore goalkeeper Samantha Maresca who only allowed one goal to be scored in the first half.

By the end of the second quarter, it is clear that the Bobcats have dominated offensively for most of the game. Sacred Heart went into the third quarter with two shots on goal compared to Quinnipiac’s seven. The score remained at 1-0 with the Bobcats on top with Howard having the lone goal in the first half of action.

“We were working hard on getting all of our rebounds and shots,” Howard said. “We definitely should have put more in, but to get three, it’s a really good game.”

Just under six minutes into the third quarter, senior forward Stella Tegtmeier ran the length of the field to score the Bobcat’s second goal, making the score 2-0.

The fourth quarter was wrapped up with a goal by sophomore forward Lucia Pompeo, which was assisted by senior forward Julianna Cappello. The final score of this game was 3-0 with the Bobcats on top. This is the fourth straight game that Quinnipiac has shut out Sacred Heart and the 11th straight win against this team.

There are nine seniors on this Bobcats team; however, only one is confirmed to be coming back to play next year, and that senior is Stella Tegtmeier.

“I’m very excited to have the opportunity to be with the team again,” Tegtmeier said. “Every year is so different since the seniors are leaving and new players are coming in. It’s good to keep adapting and for me, trying to be a role model for the other first years coming in, and have a good season together.”

The Bobcats wrapped up the regular season with a record of 8-11. They also finished sixth in the conference.