It was a humid day at the Quinnipiac Soccer and Lacrosse Stadium as Quinnipiac took on Division II Caldwell University. 

It was a game that was full of intensity right from kickoff, as with 50 seconds on the clock, Quinnipiac’s William Holum pounced on some poor defending from Caldwell to score the opening goal of the match. 

Despite the fast start from the Bobcats, the Cougars managed to stay in the game, even creating a few good chances. Despite this Sivert Ryssdalsnes finished off a brilliant team goal in the 18th minute to give Quinnipiac a two-goal lead going into halftime. 

Caldwell started the second half hungry, and full of intensity creating seven shots, and this start to the half was rewarded when midfielder Hakon Rake scored a brilliantly placed finish in the bottom corner in the 56th minute to rattle the Quinnipiac team who had just been cruising 2-0 up.

Once Caldwell scored, Quinnipiac then turned up the intensity. Caldwell goalkeeper Justin Talbot, made an impressive seven saves, to keep the score at 2-1. Talbot also brilliantly saved a penalty kick by Quinnipiac’s Luke Schirenbeck, which kept the dreams of Caldwell alive. 

Frustrated by the penalty miss, Quinnipiac instantly looked to make changes, one of which was bringing on midfielder Mateo Balbino who came on and immediately changed the tempo of the game. 

Still searching for a goal, Quinnipiac created opportunity after opportunity, which was finally rewarded in the 77th minute when Ryssdalsnes played a beautiful through ball to Andrew Monteserin, who finished confidently to give Quinnipiac the 3-1 cushion they had been looking for. 

Speaking after the game, Ryssdalsnes and Monteserin said,“Playing at home was a great feeling, and it felt even better to get the win! It was a great win, we worked for it.”

Quinnipiac will be back in action on Tuesday to take on LIU at 4 p.m.