The 3-8 Bobcats were looking for their first win at home in two years against the 3-8 Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers. The Bobcats continued to look for their first home win since 2024.
The Bobcats were coming off a win from last weekend where they beat Sacred Heart 16-14 on the road.
The Bobcats were aware of how much they needed a win at home. They started the game off with back-to-back goals from junior Cole Marsala and freshman Duncan Zielke.
Then two minutes later, junior Nate Watson continued his marvelous season, putting the Bobcats up by three. This caused the Mount to take a much-needed timeout with all the momentum going the Bobcats’ way.
The Bobcats went up by four when senior Ethan McGerald put one in the net with an assist from Zielke, getting it past goalie Bennett Wright.
The Bobcats stayed strong and kept Mount St. Mary scoreless for the first 12 minutes of the game. Unfortunately, the luck ran out when the Mountaineers got their first goal of the game from Owen Fasulka.
The first quarter came to a close with the Bobcats up 4-1.
The Mountaineers brought it within one early in the second. One was due to a power play goal from Brody Atkinson. The other being from Kevin Whitty who also assisted Atkinson’s goal.
The Bobcats didn’t let this ruin their momentum, though. They were able to go back up by three when Watson got his second of the game and senior Tommy Andruzzi got his first.
A missed opportunity came with a turnover; followed by the Mountaineers getting their fourth of the game from Collin Thompson with an assist from Aidan Kilduff.
The second quarter continued to bring good fortune to the Bobcats. Sophomore Jake Gallose got the Bobcats their seventh of the game with an assist from McGerald.
The Bobcats got three more goals after this. The first and second were from freshman Luke Byman and junior Ryan Novak. Then the third was from Watson, getting the hat trick.
Quinnipiac was up by six going into the second half. This was the first half that the Bobcats were hoping for to achieve their first win at home in two years.
The Bobcats weren’t able to strike early in the third, but instead, Mountaineers’ Carter Quested and Dorian Connolley got the Mountaineers back within four.
The remaining nine minutes of the third quarter kept the Bobcats scoreless. Thanks to great saves from Miner, the Bobcats were able to hold a four-goal lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Quinnipiac looked to get its first goal of the second half, and that came when junior Nick Meoni got his first of the game.
The game became a goal gift exchange in the fourth quarter. Connolly got his second of the game but the Bobcats kept their momentum going from a goal by freshman AJ Amandolare. Followed by a goal from Zielke, getting his second of the game.
Zielke was starting to feel it now and he got his third of the day and got the hat trick. The Bobcats were up by seven and they were starting to feel the win in their hands.
With a minute left to play and the Bobcats up by six, they were finally feeling it and nothing was going to stop them from getting this much-needed win.
As the clock hit zero, the Bobcats got their first win at home in two years, beating the Mountaineers 14-8 and improving to 4-8 on the season.
When asked about the win, Head Coach Poli said: “The Mountaineers did a great job at mixing some zone and slowing us down offensively but the defense got the push in there, and we were able to finish out.”
When asked how he’s going to handle these last two games and try to end the season strong saying “Just one day at a time, continue to focus and enjoy the win for the next 12 hours and then focus on healing and recovering for the next game.”
Nate Watson was also enthusiastic about the win and said, “it’s great, we haven’t won at home in a while and now we have two good games coming up to get ready for.”
The Bobcats will now get ready to hit the road next Saturday to play Iona at 2 p.m. and then end their season at home against Manhattan.
