The Quinnipiac field hockey team lost 2-0 against the Drexel Dragons in their final game of the season on Sunday, October 29.
“It’s the point in the season where you know, injuries are hitting and we just wanted to be really conservative with what we were doing,” said head coach Nina Klein. “We were able to get a lot of the bench in so I’m very happy with how the day went.”
Even though the team had already been eliminated after Friday’s overtime loss to Temple, today’s game still provided plenty of opportunity for some of the younger players to get playing time.
“I’m really close with the sophomores and of course the other freshmen, so it was great seeing them out there today because they work hard day in and day out,” Katie Shanahan said.
As the rain started to come down, both teams were quiet during the first quarter. Drexel did have a chance to score with a penalty corner towards the end of the quarter. Freshman Pien Elsen whipped the ball down the middle of the net but Christina Torres made the sliding save to keep the game scoreless in the first quarter.
During the second quarter, neither team was able to get a point on the board. Quinnipiac had a couple of chances including when Lucia Pompeo passed the ball to Julianna Cappello and she took it behind Drexel’s goalie Megan Hadfield. Cappello then shot the ball but missed it to the right of the net.
To finish off the second quarter, Drexel forward Eline Di Leva took a wide-open shot but wasn’t able to make it in before the buzzer. Both teams entered the second half still scoreless.
As the rain started to pick up, both teams came out looking to put one on the board. Quinnipiac did make a goalie change going into the second half. Torres was pulled and Nina Santore was put in to finish off the game for the Bobcats.
“I think (Santore) had a pretty stellar day,” said Klein. “It can be tough to come off the bench and get prepared but I think overall she kept us in the game.”
Around the twelfth-minute mark, Elsen shot the ball off of the penalty corner and it deflected off of Santore. Marti Sanabria was there to put the ball into the net for the first goal of the game.
Six minutes later, Pili Lemoine passed the ball behind Santore over to Delfi Cabral and she made it in to give Drexel a quick 2-0 lead.
Quinnipiac would have a couple more penalty corners in the fourth quarter for a chance to get one on the board. Stella Stegtemeir took a shot off of a penalty corner but Hadfield made the sliding save to deny the Bobcats a chance to get one on the board in their final game of the season.
Klein finishes her first season as head coach with an overall record of 6-11 and a Big East record of 2-5. Now she and the team will look to start preparing for next season.
“We’re looking ahead to next fall,” said Klein. “I know that this spring is going to be huge for developing the team, but I wanted to test some of those people who haven’t been in and I think there’s a lot to grow from.”
While the Bobcats season may be over, Drexel will finish today’s game 2-0 and look forward to playing against William and Mary in the CAA playoffs next Friday.
