The Quinnipiac Bobcats took down Colgate 13-9 in a highly contested scoring affair on Saturday.
An aggressive Bobcat defense had the Raiders shaken as the offense took care of the rest from there. Colgate faced difficulties in clearing the ball and dealing with the physicality of Quinnipiac’s defense. Senior midfielder EllaGrace Delmond started the game hot with two goals. Delmond followed up with a free-position goal at 6:57, helping Quinnipiac take a 4-1 lead.
“We come out strong in the first and have it carry us throughout the game,” junior attack Cate Bendowski said of the Bobcats’ strong start.
“It’s one of our goals as a team to start off games strong this season,” head coach Jordan Cristopher reiterated.
In the second quarter, Colgate made some noise as they cut the lead to 8-5 with goals coming from senior midfielder Lucy Licata and junior attack Ella Bishara. Wide shots from junior attack Sarah Marcovici and multiple fouls committed by the Bobcats allowed Colgate to gain possession more consistently.
However, Quinnipiac’s offense held strong, with four players, first year midfielder Emma Miller-Ayala, EllaGrace Delmond, senior attack Abby Wise and first year midfielder Anna Gavens on the verge of a hat-trick. Bendowski finished the contest with an impressive four-goal outing.
To start the third quarter, Colgate came out with much more intensity, challenging the Bobcats immediately. Throughout the quarter, Quinnipiac was winning the ground-ball battle with several whistles being blown. The next few minutes were filled with fouls, turnovers and key saves from both goalkeepers.
Colgate’s defense showed necessary resilience, forcing Quinnipiac into turnovers and maintaining possession. At 10:29, first year midfielder Olivia McDonald scored, narrowing the score to 9-6 in favor of Quinnipiac. Bendowski responded by netting her fourth of the day.
“She is our energy, and for her to come in after an injury last year, and to see her come into her own, it’s really great to see her hard work pay off,” Christopher said of Bendowski’s performance.
First year goalkeeper Shannon Alden had a clutch fourth quarter, keeping the Raiders out of the net. She finished the day with 15 saves.
“She’s been steady, and her confidence with her defensive unit is getting better, and it’s really great to see she put up 15 saves today,” Christopher said.
Colgate kept pressuring but struggled to break through, with multiple shots going wide or being blocked by Alden. Wise iced the contest with a game-sealing goal with 27 seconds left.
“Our team has been working hard for this since the fall and we’re starting to connect well,” Bendowski said. “My teammates are giving me good feeds, I couldn’t have done it without them.”
The Bobcats return to action in a highly-anticipated clash with Yale set for 2 p.m. on February 18.
