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The Quinnipiac women’s lacrosse team’s season came to a close Saturday as it dropped its Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) regular season finale to Monmouth 19-12.

The game had more riding on it for the Bobcats (5-11, 2-6 MAAC) than the Hawks (12-5, 6-2 MAAC). Coming into the game Quinnipiac needed a win and a Niagara loss to clinch a spot in the MAAC Tournament. Niagara ended up losing to Manhattan in double overtime, but the Bobcats couldn’t get it done.

“It’s bittersweet,” Quinnipiac head coach Tanya Kotowicz said. “It came down to this game, but it was all the games prior that we could’ve taken care of. I think overall it was a gritty game, we won the second half. That belief that we could do it came a little late and so obviously a little disappointing in the ending.”

Bobcats senior attack Allison Kuhn went out the way she started for the Bobcats – scoring goals. She scored in every game this season and finished with a career high 43 goals, thanks to a four goal performance against the Hawks, and is just the tenth player in program history to own a 40 goal season.

Filling Kuhn’s void will be difficult, but with her departing comes a changing of the culture, according to Kotowicz.

“The culture of the program is changing and every player has to get better every year,” Kotowicz said. “We’re not only going to keep bringing in better, but we’re going to keep demanding more from those that are here.”

Freshman midfielder Gabby Beckett had a hat trick for the Bobcats to end her season on a five game scoring streak where she netted eight goals and 11 points.

Goaltending and defense was an issue for the Bobcats on Saturday, as those 19 goals against were the most conceded by the team all season. Graduate student Sami Walters had six saves and nine goals against, while junior Allie Kelsey had just a lone save while giving up 10 goals.

Nine different Hawks scored in the win including three separate four-goal games. Junior attack Nicole Ceraso, junior midfielder Rachel Mills and senior attack Jenny Staines combined for 12 goals and 16 points. Staines had four goals and seven points to lead all scorers.

Looking ahead, the Bobcats will be losing 10 players to graduation. They will return their second leading scorer in junior attack Megan Swazlowski, who finished her first season as a Bobcat with 33 goals and 50 points.

Junior attack Ashley Bobinski will be heading into her senior season. Bobinski started the first 33 games of her career and posted 50 goals and 80 points before coming off the bench the entirety of this season and only scoring eight goals and nine points in 16 games.

“I think everyone’s working well,” Kotowicz said. “When something’s working well, you don’t really want to change it so that might have been why she didn’t get as much time.”

This season was an improvement for the Bobcats as they went from a lone win to two wins in MAAC play. They could smell the MAAC tournament this year, but came up one win shy.

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