Photo courtesy Quinnipiac Athletics
By: Sierra Goodwill
In its first home Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference playoff game in program history, the Quinnipiac women’s soccer team dominated the Canisius Golden Griffs 3-0 on Saturday afternoon. Senior Kelly Caruso feels lucky to be among the few Quinnipiac players to ever end their season with a postseason win on the QU Soccer Field.
“This is the best thing that could have ever happened to us,” the midfielder said. “It was amazing, it meant the world to us to play our game here.”
The last postseason game the Bobcats held on home turf was in 2000, when they beat Loyola 2-1 in overtime in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Head coach Dave Clarke is happy that the class of 2017’s last memory playing at Quinnipiac is a positive one.
“In the back of your mind you also don’t want them to lose here and then have to deal with that experience. You’ll never take it away from those players that won an NCAA game on this field. So, for the seniors they are walking out of here very lucky that their last game is a win and it means something.”
Caruso got on the board first in the first half off a free kick just a few feet outside of the 18-yard box. Her strength has sealed her position as the go-to for free kicks within close proximity to the goal, and Saturday was no different.
“I looked and I saw that the goal was pretty close to me and I hit it as hard as I could,” Caruso said. “I knew that this ball was going to swerve, especially with having the wind with me, and I knew I could get a lot of power behind it.”
Al Pelletier doubled Quinnipiac’s lead with 37 minutes to go in the second half on a cross from the left wing that went top-shelf over the diving gloves of Canisius goalie Alana Rossi. Rossi was replaced by Meaghan O’Neill just five minutes later.
That substitution, however, did not make a difference. Nadya Gill dribbled through multiple Golden Griffs and fired one off to tally her ninth goal of the season. All three goals came in very different manners, showcasing the offensive diversity of this Quinnipiac team.
“We’re trying to not score the same goal every time. It keeps the other team on their toes and it’s giving us a lot more options,” Caruso said. “We’ve been practicing switching the ball a lot more, and I think we went out there and really perfected that today.”
The Bobcats now have the possibility of facing two different opponents in the MAAC Semifinals: Monmouth or Siena.
Monmouth is the host team, sitting atop the conference with a record of 9-0-1. Quinnipiac lost 2-1 in an overtime heartbreaker to Monmouth on Oct. 15 this season to snap a five game win streak. So while it may seem that Siena is who Quinnipiac is hoping for, that may not be the case.
The Bobcats have not defeated the Saints since 2007, including a 2-0 loss on Oct. 19. Siena is in second place in the MAAC with a record of 7-3. Two of the Saints losses were handed to them by Monmouth and Rider, the number one and three seeds in the conference.
While both matchups would be a challenge for Quinnipiac, Clarke has faith that his team will write a very different story the second time around with either team.
“We’re not going to change anything from what we’ve done so far this season. Whatever team we play, it’ll be a different game than the last time.”
Quinnipiac has a few days to rest before it has to make the road trip to West Long Branch, N.J. for the MAAC semifinal game on Friday, Nov. 4.
