THREE TAKEAWAYS: Quinnipiac drops rainy rivalry game to Yale 2-1
The Quinnipiac field hockey team could not hold on to the lead Sunday afternoon, as the Yale Bulldogs came from behind for a 2-1 non-conference victory.
The previous three meetings between the two programs were closely contested one-goal games. The latest iteration of “The Battle of Whitney Avenue” was no different. With rain pelting the field all afternoon, Julianna Capello opened the scoring in the first quarter for the Bobcats, but the Bulldogs made the most of its six corner opportunities, as they converted twice with goals from Ashley Kim and Ellie Barlow.
Despite having a three-player advantage in the closing minutes after the net was pulled and the Bulldogs received two cards, the Bobcats ran out of time to reknot the game. The Bobcats’ record dips below five hundred for the second time this season, as the blue and gold field hockey squad is 3-4 overall.
Ahead of the Bobcats’ return to BIG EAST play on Friday at Georgetown, here are three takeaways from the matinee loss.
Takeaway 1: Take the lead and hold the line for sixty minutes at a time
Quinnipiac head coach Nina Klein credited her team for a solid first half, but she knows her squad still has work to do before reaching four-quarter domination.
“I just don’t think we’re there yet,” Klein said. “I think we had a solid thirty today. We definitely want to build on the strengths and positives we saw from our team, but it needs to be sustained throughout an entire match, and then we’re going to be very happy with ourselves.”
Sunday’s loss is the second straight game where Quinnipiac struck early, but relinquished multiple unanswered goals late. After dropping a BIG EAST game 4-3 on Friday when Meghan Mitchell tallied all four goals for the visiting and victorious Villanova, Quinnipiac again struggled to find a response to high-danger chances and failed to build pressure on Yale in crunch time.
As the Becca Main era in program history closed, a carry-over obstacle to Klein’s tenure was sixty-minute efforts. This again reared its head as Yale was in the driver’s seat from the third quarter on.
Takeaway 2: Torres stood tall to keep the game close
Since her sophomore campaign began, Quinnipiac keeper Cristina Torres has been taking strides. Her raw skill showed with several high-profile saves to keep the deficit at one goal.
Her biggest moment came on an impressive penalty stroke stop in the second quarter, as Torres dove and laid out with her stick to stop Julia Freedman’s attempt.
Torres made three saves and played aggressively to keep her squad in the game and prevent Yale from scoring from the field. Throughout the fall, she will be the last line of defense for the Bobcats. With elite positioning, vision, and rebound control, Torres shined as she played dependably despite being handed the loss.
Takeaway 3: Penalty corners are bread and butter
To pose an analogy, corners are to field hockey as studying is for an exam. Without proper planning and execution, the chance for success can disappear.
Coming into the weekend, the Bobcats were ranked 18th nationally in penalty corners per game, drawing an average of 7.2, and converting at a 13.8% clip. After going 0-13 this weekend in penalty corner chances, and 0-6 against Yale, Quinnipiac will emphasize running offensive and defensive corners in practice in the coming week ahead of re-entering conference play.
“It’s about how we practice them, whether we’re doing a stress test in the midst of practice, we tend to train them at the end of practice when there’s full fatigue because that’s usually what’s happening during the game,” Klein said. “It’s a power play, so I think drawing up a couple of new plays as well as elevating how we’re practicing them is going to be helpful.”
With seven conference games in a season and a dream to make the BIG EAST tournament still alive, Friday’s game against a 1-8 Georgetown will be a must-win for Quinnipiac. By attacking with new schemes and defending effectively, the Bobcats can shut down the BIG EAST’s last-place squad and rebound from Sunday’s tough loss to Yale.
