The Quinnipiac Bobcats defeated the Canisius Golden Griffins 1-0 to advance to the MAAC championship on Thursday afternoon.

The game started off slow for both sides as even though the Bobcats dominated possession, there were not many scoring chances for either side in the first 20 minutes.

The crowd got into the game in the 23rd minute when junior forward Rebecca Cooke’s scorpion kick attempt went just inches over the crossbar.

Despite this attempt at a highlight reel goal, this game went into the half tied 0-0.

“We’ve had so many games where we’ve been 0-0 at half and we’ve gotten the job done in the second half,” said junior forward Courtney Chochol. “We all knew not to panic and we knew it was going to happen.”

The Bobcats picked up the pace in the second half as they were able to create more and more high quality chances, but were still unable to finish.

Then the 80th minute came and this game went from exciting to emotional turmoil.

Some could say they find beauty in chaos. If you were a Quinnipiac Bobcat on Thursday, this was definitely the case.

It started in the 80th minute when a Bobcat was taken down in the box, leading to a penalty being called.

When Chochol stepped up to take the penalty, she sent the Golden Griffins goalkeeper Jessica Jones the wrong way, but she was unable to beat the post.

This chance was followed up only a minute later as the Bobcats once again on the attack were able to draw another penalty.

This time Cooke stepped up to the penalty spot and she made no mistake, as she buried the shot into the bottom corner, giving the Bobcats a late lead.

“We obviously knew we had to win it,” said Cooke. “I feel like we didn’t change anything that we’ve been doing all season, I know it’s a semi-final, but we treated it like any other game in the MAAC.”

The back-to-back penalty calls led to both the players and the fans for the Griffins yelling at the ref.

The Griffins comeback attempt was made much more difficult when they went down to 10 players in the 88th minute, as sophomore defender Erin Weir received her second yellow card of the game, giving her an automatic red card.

Composure was a big part of this game as the Griffins received seven yellow cards to the Bobcats’ one, as well as two red cards, the second coming after the final whistle.

When the final whistle blew, the players stormed onto the field in celebration.

Despite the win, the Bobcats know there is still work to be done and they still have a business-like approach.

“It’s over now,” said head coach Dave Clarke. “Already in my head I’m thinking about Sunday.”

With the win, the Bobcats advance to play for the MAAC championship, which they will be hosting for the first time ever. They play the winner of Fairfield and Niagara.