The Quinnipiac University Bobcats women’s soccer team defeated the Saint Peters University Peacocks 8-0 on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, the Bobcats extend their hold over the top seed in the MAAC Conference with a perfect 9-0 record. Quinnipiac also improved their overall season record to 11-3 and are currently in the middle of an eight-game win streak. This result was the ultimate cap-off to an all-around special day.
It was a chilly and overcast afternoon for the start of the match. However, the conditions wouldn’t damper the warmth and love that would be shared by the whole Quinnipiac community throughout the day. The Bobcats, who were decked out in pink shirts and socks for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, had their Senior Day celebration just before the start the game. Seniors on the team were greeted by their fellow teammates, coaches, staff and families with smiles, hugs, flowers and cheers.
Head coach Dave Clarke believes the team has had a great appreciation for each other and their growth over his years coaching them, even through rough times like the pandemic.
“Every single player here went through it,” Clarke said. “You appreciate the finer things in life and the simple things in life.”
Despite the overall pleasantness and joy of the celebration, the team knew they came here with a job to do. They came into today attempting to stay hot in the MAAC Conference and keep their undefeated streak going, and come to play they did.
The Bobcats wouldn’t take long to kick off the scoring in the match as Lily Schneiders snuck a ball past Peacocks goalkeeper Annabelle Adams to put Quinnipiac up 1-0 in the ninth minute.
Not long after, in the 24th minute senior forward Emely van der Vliet beamed one through the lower left of the net to put the Bobcats up 2-0 off assists from senior forward Courtney Chocol and defender Madison Mandelur.
Quinnipiac would continue to pad their lead in the 44th minute when first-year Evelyn Keay took a shot to the right side of the net and secured the team’s third goal of the game entering the half.
The Bobcats certainly benefited from their aggressiveness early on, keeping pressure off of senior goalkeeper Sophia Lospinoso, who only had to make one save the whole game.
Senior forward Olivia Kudrikow believed it’s the team’s sense of family and being a united front in all facets of the game that allowed them to attack Saint Peters so effectively.
“We are a family and I think that is something that has changed the last couple years. We’ve changed the dynamic a little bit and we are truly one,” Kudrikow said. “We win as a team and we lose as a team and I think we take that to heart.”
The Bobcats would keep the aggression coming out of the break, as they would score again just two minutes into the second half. Senior Forward Courtney Chocol would net the Bobcats’ fourth goal of the game in front of her family in the stands, off an assist by Kudrikow.
While many teams would choose to play clock management with such a commanding lead, the Bobcats never let their foot off the gas and it would continue to reign down on Saint Peters.
Four more goals were scored in the half with two coming from van der Vliet, ultimately giving her a hat trick on the day. The other two were scored by Rachel Roman in the 86th minute and the aforementioned Kudrikow in the 89th minute.
With the win, the Bobcats wrapped their day of celebration with a dominating 8-0 win over the Peacocks. The team has one final game before the MAAC tournament against the Manhattan Jaspers.
A game in which Van der Vliet says the team has one goal in mind.
“We need to win,” van der Vliet said. “Anything else than that 10-0 is not good enough.”
The Bobcats game vs. The Jaspers will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 25 at 7:00 p.m.
