By Morey Hershgordon
The Quinnipiac men’s soccer team hasn’t won a home opener in nearly 10 years. That problem continued Friday, as the Brown Bears used two second-half goals in a 27-second span that nullified any hope for three points. With the win, Brown improves to 1-0-0 on its season while Quinnipiac drops to 0-2-1. Below are my three observations from the game:
1. James Doig’s absence haunts Quinnipiac’s midfield play.
Let’s be brutally honest here, Quinnipiac’s midfield was nowhere to be found. Between Doig and senior James Greco, the Bobcats are usually fine with their ball transition from the defensive side to the offensive side. But with Doig’s injury, freshmen Colton Grob and Matt Taylor and sophomore Shaquille Huggins all look to Greco for the answers. Also, the midfield does not own a big body that can physically press an opposing defense. Its youth and inexperience without Doig was exposed.
What head coach Eric Da Costa had to say:
“Yeah (it’s) big. James is a big part of what we do. He’s an experienced player and this is the first game he’s been out in the last two years since freshman year. It makes a difference, but we’ve got some depth. We have guys that can step in and do a similar job and unfortunately today we just didn’t get enough good performances from enough guys”
“We’ve got a good space of days off. He’s been working hard with our staff to get himself back and I think he’s going to continue to do that and when they tell us he’s ready, he’s ready.”
2. Eric Da Costa has been using a platoon system.
Throughout three games in the 2015 season, the reigning Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Coach of the Year has been experimenting with his team’s roster. He knows the quantity of talent on his bench and believes it’s necessary to allow playing time for many who have a shot to crack the starting lineup come conference play. For example, Da Costa has split time between defenders Erik Panzer, a staple for the Bobcats defense who has helped guide them to three consecutive conference championships and newcomer Mikail Ellis, a junior transfer from the University of Texas-Brownsville.
What head coach Eric Da Costa had to say:
“It’s not about winning every game in September, it’s about winning every game in October. Do we want to win every game in September? Absolutely. It’s always the goal. Our guys are always competitive and they’ll be upset about this result, but it’s about improving everyday to try to get better for October so that in October we don’t have these types of results. It’s a different year for us. The playoff system is structured a little differently and we need to make sure we’re prepared for that. Our guys are focused on every game. Our staff is focused on the long term.”
3. Where’s the scoring?
Dating back to last season, Quinnipiac’s scoring drought has now eclipsed 400 minutes. It did not score in the 2014 MAAC semi-finals against Fairfield and has yet to score in three games this season. Not only have they not scored, the Bobcats have only recorded five shots-on-goal thus far. An average of just over one shot-on-goal will not cut it come conference time. However, Da Costa feels confident that it’s just a matter of time until his teams puts the ball in the back of the net.
What head coach Eric Da Costa had to say:
“We’ve been working very heavily on the defensive side of things. It’s important that we defend well (with a new goalkeeper and defensemen) and for the most part today I thought we really did and against UConn we certainly did and against Boston College we did. We gave up two goals here today but the individuals errors were at a tough time playing down a man. But everything we’ve been focusing on is the defensive side of things. The offensive side will come later on.”
Extras:
– James Greco received two yellow cards in a nine-minute span. His departure in the 50th minute left the Bobcats a man down for the final 40 minutes.
– As of Friday, Quinnipiac is one of seven winless teams in the MAAC.
– Quinnipiac will look for its first win of the season on Saturday, September 12th at the University of Rhode Island. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
