In an onslaught featuring 17 goals across the first three quarters, the Quinnipiac women’s lacrosse team shut down the Rider Broncs 19-6 at home to continue their push toward the MAAC Tournament.
The Bobcats struck first early on, with sophomore attacker Peyton Choma taking a great feed from sophomore midfielder Emma Miller-Ayala at the X. Miller-Ayala connected with Choma as Choma crossed just above the crease for the easy goal.
Choma ended the day with five points, tied for a career high.
“It wouldn’t have happened without my teammates,” Choma said postgame. “They were feeding me, I was feeding them, and it just happens when we all work together.”
Quinnipiac quickly followed up this first goal with a second just a minute later. Senior attacker Mia Delmond powered home an unassisted score, doubling the early lead.
Miller-Ayala and sophomore midfielder Anna Givens added two more before the midway point of the first quarter in free position fashion. Both goals also came following a Rider yellow card, thus continuing the early Bobcat trend of offensive pressure.
Finally, the Broncs answered with an unassisted goal from graduate attacker Kayleigh Colleary. Colleary had been a bright spot on the Rider offense, leading the team in points with 30 entering the afternoon.
Quinnipiac had an answer, though, as Choma added points on back-to-back goals. The first came as an assist on a goal scored by freshman midfielder Charlotte DeMaio. The next came from her second goal of the first quarter.
The second quarter began just as the first ended, with Peyton Choma. After assisting senior attacker Cate Bendowski on her goal, the roles were reversed for Choma’s third in just 18 minutes.
“I have to give all the credit to my teammates,” Bendowski said postgame. “They cut, and they’re wide open because they’re so quick…It honestly makes the job so easy for me.”
Bendowski also received praise from Choma postgame.
“We knew that today they would be locking her off more because she’s such a great feeder and shooter. So we all decided to basically emulate what she does and try to be her,” said Choma.
The back-and-forth nature of the afternoon continued after Choma’s hat trick, as Colleary added her second for Rider, but was quickly countered by Delmond’s second goal.
Delmond’s second goal marked her 35th of the season and pushed her into the top-20 leaderboard for goals in a single season in Quinnipiac women’s lacrosse history. This year marked her second visit to the top-20.
Freshman attacker Brie Provenzano later added her name to the scoresheet around the midway point of the second quarter, taking a feed from Delmond to the net.
Sophomore midfielder Madi Eollo began driving momentum back in the Broncs’ favor, firing home her first of the game. This preceded another Colleary goal, now giving her two hat tricks in her last three games.
Junior midfielder Kendall Lee changed the tide right back, firing home Quinnipiac’s third free-position goal. Miller-Ayala added a fourth from the free position just before the end of the first half, bringing the score to 12-4 through 30 minutes.
The second half began with an unexpected yellow card issued to Rider graduate faceoff specialist Marissa Ross for an illegal stick. This opened the door for Quinnipiac as senior midfielder Julia Givens netted another for the Bobcats. Bendowski added an assist on the play.
Miller-Ayala also didn’t lose a step coming out of the halftime break. She opened the half by firing home her third goal of the game just minutes after Givens. Delmond further extended Quinnipiac’s lead, becoming the third Bobcat to record a hat trick on the day in just 37 minutes.
Sophomore midfielder Kendall VanMeveren also recorded her first tally of the game, as Quinnipiac strung together five goals in seven minutes of action.
The barrage of goals continued courtesy of Julia Givens’ second of the game. Bendowski added her fourth assist of the game on the play.
This assist officially vaulted Bendowski to the top-five single-season assists leaders in program history, passing Abby Wise’s 2025 campaign.
Before the end of the third quarter, Colleary furthered her resume as the Bobcats’ sole kryptonite, adding her fourth goal of the game.
As the Bobcats began to slow the pace and limit aggression, sophomore defenseman Hannah Kozik notched the Broncs’ sixth goal of the meeting from the free position.
Provenzano once more added to her resume with an assist on junior defenseman Maggie Kennedy’s first goal of the season. With that, the Bobcats matched a season-high 18-goal outing, tying an April 1 win over Iona.
Senior attacker Graham Straface’s first goal of the afternoon bested this 18-goal mark, as she found an empty net on a free position following a foul from redshirt senior goalie Jamie Kubach.
Straface’s goal would mark the end of a 25-goal scoring marathon as the Bobcats won 19-6 in commanding fashion.
“I know this team wants that 17th game, and we put ourselves back in the mix to be able to earn it today,” head coach Jordan Solari said postgame.
Up next, the Bobcats will wrap up their home regular season with a Saturday morning matinee against the Fairfield Stags on 4/11 at 11:00 am in Hamden, CT.
