The Quinnipiac women’s lacrosse team had a tough challenge ahead of them Saturday as they took on the MAAC-leading Fairfield Stags, winners of seven-straight. The Stags had never lost to the Bobcats. Coming into this matchup, they were 17-0 in MAAC play. That streak continued Saturday as Fairfield took home a 17-13 win.
“I really think we could have had them,” Quinnipiac head coach Jordan Solari said. “There were some moments that we would want back.”
The Bobcats leapt to an early lead just over two minutes in as Anna Givens used a free position chance to score her 11th goal of the year. However, less than a minute later, Fairfield’s Mary Henry sniped a goal from the top of the square to tie the game at one.
Over the next two minutes, the Stags increased their lead to two with goals by Haley Burns and Teresa Caputo. Anna’s sister, Julia, notched her 32nd goal of the year to cut the lead in half. Cate Bendowski tied the game for Quinnipiac once more with her 26th of the season with just over eight minutes left in the first period.
Caputo added two more goals before the end of the quarter, along with another goal from Burns and one from Kelly Haggerty. Emma Miller-Ayala scored two before the end of the frame to make the score 7-5 Fairfield after one.
24 seconds into the second quarter, Julia Givens cut the lead to one. After a save by Alden on a Stags’ free position chance, the Bobcats rushed down the field looking to tie, but a shot rang off the crossbar. Missed opportunities like this one plagued the Bobcats throughout the game.
The Stags rattled off five straight goals to take control of the game, with Caputo picking up her fourth goal of the game and Charlotte Loughlin scoring her 11th of the season. Kyleigh Tufano scored a natural hat trick for her 14th, 15th, and 16th goals of the year.
After the third Tufano goal, Solari removed Shannon Alden from the game and put Maddy Ward in the net.
“I felt like Shannon wasn’t seeing the ball as well as she usually does, and I figured a change of pace wouldn’t hurt us, and Maddie ended up doing a phenomenal job,” said Solari.
Anna Givens scored her second of the game with 1:13 to go in the second, and the Stags took a 12-7 lead into halftime.
At the start of the third, Quinnipiac’s Peyton Choma was seemingly fouled. However, after a lengthy review, she was later charged with a foul herself. Tufano added her fourth of the game, increasing the Fairfield lead to six.
The Bobcats cut the Stags’ lead in half after two more goals from Anna Givens and the team-leading 37th goal of the year from Mia Delmond.
“They’re relentless,” Solari said of her team. “Our players were exhausted, but they found a little bit more within themselves because of what this means to them.”
Loughlin and Delmond both traded their second goals of the game, followed by goals from Quinnipiac’s Brie Provenzano and Fairfield’s Henry. The Bobcats were within striking distance, heading into the fourth trailing 15-12.
Fairfield took the momentum away from the Bobcats in the fourth as Caputo scored her fifth of the game. The Stags held on for the 17-13 win, after a second goal from Julia Givens.
Anna Givens led the Bobcats with four goals, while Ward made six saves and gave up five goals in relief of Alden.
The Bobcats will fight for their playoff lives with a virtual win-and-in game as they visit the Sacred Heart Pioneers next Saturday at 1 p.m.
“I know they are going to be ready because they are fighting for their playoff lives, they want this more than anything, so we are going to grind this week,” Solari said.
