The Rebound: Jacob Resnick and Jonathan Banks

Story by Benjamin Kane

The Quinnipiac men’s soccer team took on the Monmouth Hawks in the MAAC Championship game Saturday.

The #1 seeded Bobcats were upset at home in a 1-0 loss courtesy of a Julian Gomez goal with just four minutes left to play in the second half.

While the game did not go the way that coach Eric Da Costa had envisioned it, there were definitely some positives from the season that will make the Bobcats coaching staff feel good.

There’s a new style of play in Hamden

The biggest question coming into the season was who was going to replace Quinnipiac star Eamon Whelan, who graduated in 2020.

To put things short, there was no true replacement, but rather a squad of 11.

The dynamic shifted within this Bobcats team from being centered around one player, to working as a team in order to win.

The new attacking trio of David Bercedo, Brage Aasen, and Tomas Svecula reeked chaos against every team that they played against. The three were never in the same position for more than twenty minutes, which made it very hard to track and defend.

They scored eleven out of the eighteen goals for Quinnipiac, and their movement was the main reason that most of the other goals were scored.

This young partnership will be on full display next year and will be one of the most exciting things to watch in the MAAC.

Brage Aasen is a top player in the MAAC

Aasen came off an eight-point season (one goal, six assists) in 2019, which saw him start nine out of eighteen games, as well as earning All-Rookie Team honors in the MAAC.

The Norwegian winger has played a pivotal role in the new style attack rolled out by Da Costa this year, playing both centrally and out wide.

Forming a lethal partnership with Bercedo and Svecula, Aasen was able to accumulate fourteen points (five goals, four assists), as well as scoring the winning goal in a 2-1 win against Fairfield in the MAAC semifinals.

While the goals are what to look for on the stat sheet, Aasen’s influence is something that cannot be understated.

Even with being man marked in the quarterfinal game against Siena, Aasen was able to find pockets on the field, which led to the winner from Bercedo.

Allen and Weigand are a pairing for the future

The Bobcats not only had a new offensive trio that was formed this season, but a new centre back pairing as well.

Having only been able to play the final five games of the season together, first-year Luke Allen and sophomore Henry Weigand were able to create a dominant pairing that only allowed five goals.

While the heights of 6’2″ and 6’4″ may be the first thing that jumps off the stat sheet, it was the awareness of both players that helped lead this defense.

Both players know when and where to play the ball. Whether there is pressure on their horizon or acres of open space, Allen and Weigand were able to find that pass that was able to relieve pressure.

Not to be forgotten either was the presence of senior goalkeeper and captain, Jared Mazzola.

The presence of Mazzola in the net allowed for Allen and Weigand to have more options on the ball, and as a result, the vision of the center backs was truly on display this season.