Photo courtesy Quinnipiac Athletics
Highlight by Andrew Badillo
By: Morey Hershgordon
Three red cards in the final 10 minutes of Saturday afternoon’s Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference men’s soccer game between the top two teams in the conference put a damper on a hard fought, potential championship game preview. Quinnipiac took an early lead when Rashawn Dally found the back of the net less than 10 minutes into the game. Two Rider goals left the hosts down one heading into halftime. However, constant pressure enabled Quinnipiac to find multiple scoring chances in the second half. It didn’t capitalize and Rider put the finishing touches on a 3-1 win, preventing Quinnipiac from winning the regular season championship. Below are three things we learned in Hamden:
1. Red cards hurt more for than just in Saturday’s loss.
Three different Quinnipiac soccer players were sent off the field in the loss. First, was freshman standout defender Connor McCoy. Next, was midfielder Filosmar Cordeiro and the final one was midfielder Evan Hughes. These losses hurt more than just for today’s game, they hurt for the next game. All three need to serve a one-game suspension. Even though there’s only one game remaining in the regular season, the Bobcats still have a lot to play for. While the team did clinch a playoff berth by beating St. Peters earlier in the week, they have yet to clinch a bye to the semifinals and home-field advantage for championship weekend. Head coach Eric Da Costa, visibly upset during a tough stretch that left his team down three players, declined to comment about the referees, but knows his supporting cast will need to fill the roles.
Da Costa: “We’ll get back to what we’ve been doing all year using our roster. We’re going to use our roster again, there’s just some guys that we can’t use. We’re going to go to our bench. It’s the next man up and we’ll have a few guys that’ll need to step up for Wednesday’s game.”
2. Despite the loss, Quinnipiac still controls its own destiny.
With a win on Wednesday night against in-state rival Fairfield, Quinnipiac will clinch its third MAAC regular season championship in the last four years and the fourth regular season championship in the last five. Expect the season finale to be a dog fight. The Bobcats’ lack of depth coupled by the Stags wanting to play role of spoiler will result in a great college soccer match. In 15 games this year, Fairfield has scored only 19 goals. Over the past five seasons, Quinnipiac has always thrived in defensive matchups and remains confident it will get the job done.
Da Costa: “Yeah we feel great. We knew coming into the last two games that we needed either a point today or certainly three points to finish it off (on Wednesday). We still have every opportunity going into Fairfield. Obviously the challenges are bit more now then they were coming into the game. But we’ve dealt with challenges all year and we’ll try to face those challenges and come up with a game plan for the game against Fairfield.”
3. Bobcats will now rely on long balls ever more than ever
Four midfielders are sidelined for the season finale. James Doig and Maxx Rothenbucher are nursing injuries that will keep the pair out for a second straight week. Cordeiro and Hughes have to serve a mandatory one game suspension. In their absence, the team will have to continue to spray long balls over the top of the defense in order to find any offensive success. Its a system unlike past teams, but Da Costa knows that’s the most efficient.
Da Costa: “We’ve been a bit more direct this year than we have in the past because we play with two forwards now and certainly Rashawn (Dally) is a handful if we can get him the ball with a defender on his back. He could be dangerous. He attracts attention which opens up some space for Eamon (Whelan). We’re not just playing ball in from behind and hoping for the best, but we are trying to find both of those guys at their feet and build off of that.
Extras:
- Quinnipiac can still win the regular season and host the playoffs even if it doesn’t win. If it ties, it needs Rider to tie or lose to St. Peters. If Quinnipiac loses, it needs Rider to lose. Current standings.
- Quinnipiac’s program-record, seven-game winning streak snapped. First loss since Sept. 25 against Niagara.
- Eamon Whelan was held scoreless at home for the first time in over a month (Sept. 25)
