Quinnipiac women’s soccer defended their perfect MAAC record of 6-0 and dismantled the visiting Marist Red Foxes 6-1. The Bobcats had six different goal scorers in the contest.
With the win, Quinnipiac lengthens its conference lead to 18 points, which is seven more than Canisius, which sits in second place.
Head coach Dave Clarke had been preaching to bring the intensity at the start of every half this season and the Bobcats did exactly that to start the contest.
Just six minutes in, graduate defender Kayla Mingachos received a pass from junior defender Madison Mandleur and volleyed a bullet past Marist’s goalkeeper, Maddy Catalanotti to give the Bobcats a 1-0 advantage. This was Mingachos’ first goal of the season.
“It was really nice to finally be on the other end of it,” Mingachos said jokingly of her first goal.
Senior forward Emely van der Vliet would soon join the scoring. Three minutes later, she fired a right-footed shot into the back of the net to extend the lead to 2-0. Senior forward Courtney Chochol, who was recently named the MAAC Offensive Player of the Week, was credited with her seventh assist of the season on the play.
“The second goal, the sooner you can get it, the more we can play,” Clarke said.
It was clear that the Bobcats’ back line came to play on both sides of the ball, as Mandleur used a free kick opportunity to score her first goal of the season in the 29th minute.
“It definitely felt good to be able to do that,” Mandleur said. “It’s harder for other teams when they come to play us because it’s not like they have to watch one person scoring goals, they have to be aware that everyone is willing to score.”
“It’s our whole team that’s contributing. Whether it’s assists, whether it’s goals,” Mingachos said. “This is our third defender who’s scored, so it’s really good to see.”
In her first few minutes of play from off the bench, first-year forward Evelyn Keay scored her second goal of the season in the 32nd minute off of a loose rebound to make it 4-0.
To cap off an explosive first half, midfielder Ella Gagno recorded her first goal of the season from a brilliantly-placed pass from midfielder Rachel Roman.
The Bobcats finished the half outshooting Marist 13-3, and the momentum was evidently in favor of the hosts.
With nothing to lose, the Red Foxes came out aggressive to start the second half. In the 51st minute, senior forward Samantha Caldarelli sniped the top corner with her left foot, making it 5-1.
“We were silly on that first goal,” Clarke said. “It’s human nature. When you’re dominating, you tend to want to rest…I’m not too happy about the goal, but I can’t get too greedy.”
Junior keeper Gwen Hoyt subbed in for senior goalie Sofia Lospinoso in the 60th minute. Hoyt recorded one save in 30 minutes of play in her second appearance of the season.
Both squads exchanged yellow cards late in the contest as Marist looked to mount a miraculous comeback.
“We love to be physical,” Mandleur said.
“It gets them rattled a little bit, and we like that,” Mingachos added.
However, the Bobcats sealed the win with a goal in the 65th minute from the laces of sophomore midfielder Milena Branco for her second goal of the season.
Quinnipiac held this 6-1 lead until time expired and the team picked up their eighth win in nine games. During the nine-game stretch, the Bobcats have impressively outscored their opponents 27-8.
“We’re all in sync,” Mingachos said. “We know when to cover each other. We know our strengths.”
The Bobcats will look to bring their momentum with them to New York as they take on Siena on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
