By: Shane Dennehy
Follow @Q30Sports
On a foggy and rainy day in Hamden, the Quinnipiac Bobcats women’s lacrosse team looked to breakout against the Iona Gaels. Quinnipiac couldn’t breakout from the cover of the fog in the first half and that created a deficit that it could not overcome as it lost to Iona 9-7.
Quinnipiac fell into an early hole in the first half as it could not find any success on the offensive side of the field. The Gaels defense held steady throughout the first half as they did not allow Bobcat shooters to get good shots off. Although the Gaels prevented scoring opportunities for the Bobcats, the Bobcats took responsibility for their poor performance in the first half.
“I don’t think they were doing anything,” Quinnipiac sophomore midfielder Avery Drouin said. “We just couldn’t capitalize on our shot opportunities. We were just messing it up for ourselves.”
Ashley Bobinski leads Quinnipiac in goals, assists and points this season and she scored the Bobcats first goal of the game, but that turned out to be the only impact that Bobinski would make as she sat out for the rest of the second half.
The Bobcats were down 5-1 after Bobinski’s goal, and Quinnipiac’s head coach Tanya Kotowicz continuously changed her lineups in order to find a combination of players that could start creating plays offensively.
“The players that were in were making it work,” Kotowicz said. “We trust them just as much as we trust Ashley (Bobinski). We were trying to make sure that we got a (win) but we fell just short.”
Throughout this season Quinnipiac has rotated its goalies throughout the games and today the team switched its goalies at halftime. Sophomore Allie Kelsey came on in relief of senior Kyle Larkin as she looked to help inspire a comeback.
“Honestly we let in five goals and we didn’t score any,” Kotowicz said. “It was matter of seeing if we can steal a few more possessions and it was just a different look for the shooters on the opponent’s side.”
Pamela Giordano responded to Bobinski’s goal with a free position goal of her own, putting Iona up 6-1 and immediately Kotowicz called a timeout. After the break, Quinnipiac scored three goals in a row to cut Iona’s lead down to two with nine minutes to go in the second half.
Kaetlyn Noschese responded, ending the Quinnipiac run with a free position goal.
The Bobcats did not hang their heads, and they kept fighting on the rest of the way. Avery Drouin and Loren Antonacci both scored free position goals for the Bobcats, but it turned out to be to late for the Bobcats, as the Gaels scored with two seconds left to end any hopes of a comeback.
Kotowicz complained to the officials throughout the game and she thought that the officials had a role in the game.
“Unfortunately it’s uncontrollable,” Kotowicz said. “I think our game is growing and we need better officials, and to hold them accountable is important.”
Quinnipiac will finish its three game homestand with a game against the Marist Red Foxes on Saturday at 12 p.m. as it will look to earn its second win in MAAC play before going back on the road.
