Big East rival Villanova traveled to Hamden, Connecticut for a pivotal matchup against the Quinnipiac Bobcats Friday afternoon, defeating the Bobcats 4-3 behind four unanswered goals.
Quinnipiac jumped to an early 3-0 lead in the first quarter, but senior forward Meghan Mitchell took charge for Villanova, single-handedly scoring all four goals to secure a comeback victory for the Wildcats.
“I never want to concede three goals, let alone lose a game that you’re up by that many,” said head coach Nina Klein.
The Bobcats started the game with the promise of a remarkable offensive performance. It took four minutes for the action to heat up. After a scrum in front of the net, a review led to a penalty stroke. Junior forward Lucia Pompeo netted the first goal for the Bobcats. Just a minute later, her counterpart forward Emilia Massarelli capitalized on an open fastbreak and sniped a shot into the back of the net to extend the lead to 2-0. This commanding start by the Bobcats provided an early spark.
Massarelli was penalized for two minutes shortly after, but shorthanded goals were still a possibility, and they materialized. After a close deflection in front of the net, Pompeo’s older sister, Sophia, found herself with the ball on her stick and scored. It was one of the best starts of the early season for Quinnipiac.
Toward the end of the first quarter, the Wildcats wanted to close the gap. Penalty corners had been a focus for Klein in past games and Villanova managed to find the net off one such corner. Top scorer Mitchell sent the ball home. Despite a penalty corner with just one second left on the clock, the defense held firm for the rest of the quarter.
Entering the second quarter the game was on track for an above-average scoring contest. The Bobcats struggled initially, failing to convert on a penalty corner and conceding multiple fouls, which led to another Wildcat goal.
Once again, Mitchell unleashed a powerful shot that was rifled into the back of the net, leaving Quinnipiac goaltender, Cristina Torres, unable to stop it. After this goal at 10:05, there were some offensive chances, but for the most part, the quarter was quiet, and both teams had limited opportunities. Quinnipiac went into halftime with a one-goal lead.
The quietness continued into the second half, with five combined penalty corners that all came to naught. Just before the quarter ended, a scramble occurred in front of the Bobcats’ net, and, as one might guess, Mitchell capitalized once more, tying the game at three as the teams headed into the fourth quarter.
When asked about what went wrong in the game, Klein said that one of the issues was her team’s ability to intercept.
“I would say the main thing is intercepting,” Klein said. “A team that hits like Villanova did today really put us on our back foot.”
The most critical quarter of the game was the fourth. Both teams played defensively, and there was no action for the first seven minutes. As time ticked away, Villanova earned a penalty corner. Freshman midfielder Maeve Boston passed it to the midfield and a shot on goal deflected off a stick.
Mitchell dominated the game, putting her team on her back. Quinnipiac wasn’t giving up, and pulled Torres from the goal, which put the Bobcats on their last leg.
Multiple high-stick fouls caused turnovers towards the end of the game and Quinnipiac came close in the final 30 seconds. The Wildcats held their ground and sealed the impressive four-goal comeback securing a satisfying victory to send them back to Pennsylvania in high spirits.
The Bobcats drop to an overall record of 3-3 and 1-1 in the Big East. Quinnipiac looks to rebound against cross-town rival, the Yale Bulldogs Sunday starting at noon.
