The 2024 Quinnipiac women’s soccer program is looking to build on what they have done over the last two seasons and win their third consecutive MAAC Championship. This would catapult the Bobcats squad into dynasty status. This coming season, however, might be the most challenging of the three. Even though the Bobcats will bring a lot of talent and experience back to defend their title, there will also be a lot of change around them, both internally and externally. 

“Practices have been super competitive,” said senior midfielder Ella Gagno. “High intensity, and we’re excited to get games going and see what we can do this year.”

At the start of this season, the coaching staff will have a small change. After 17 seasons, Steve Coxon stepped down from the program as an assistant coach, bringing two MAAC championships to Hamden. He announced his departure on X, formally known as Twitter, on July 2.

The MAAC is expanding, time to breathe is shortened

In October 2023, the MAAC announced the addition of two institutions, Merrimack College and Sacred Heart University. The conference total now is 13 teams, which is an all-time membership high. Both Merrimack and Sacred Heart came from the Northeast Conference. Sacred Heart was a member for 25 years, while Merrimack had only been in the NEC for six years. 

“We are being reunited with Sacred Heart, that’s a rivalry that goes back to the NEC days,” Quinnipiac head coach Dave Clarke said. 

The expansion is not the only change for the MAAC this year. On Aug. 1, the conference announced a revised format for the championship tournament. Now, eight teams will make the tournament instead of six. This removes the first-round bye for the top two seeds, something Quinnipiac has relied on the past two seasons.

The higher seed will host each match. The bracket will be re-seed after each round. This makes it more difficult for the lower-seeded teams to advance. If an upset occurs they will still have to play the best remaining team. 

This is beneficial for Quinnipiac. If they repeat history and go into this tournament as the No. 1 overall seed, each round they advance they will continuously play the lowest remaining seed. 

“The goal of every team is going to be the one [seed],” said Clarke, “but it’s really taking it one step at a time and not looking ahead.”

Quinnipiac, Fairfield, Canisius and the rest of the pack 

While it truly is anyone’s conference to win, the three staples at the top of the conference over the last few years have been Quinnipiac, Fairfield and Canisius. Over the last two conference championship-winning seasons for the Bobcats, they have had to go through both Canisius and Fairfield, only squeezing by with 1-0 wins. These three squads came in the top three for the preseason conference standings. The Bobcats came in first, followed up by the Stags in second, and the Golden Griffins in third. These teams also dominated the All-MAAC preseason team, as 10 of the 11 players on the team reside from these schools, with the pre-season player of the year, Maddy Theriault, being from Fairfield. 

“The key for us is to not get complacent,” continued Gagno. “We will continue to get better.”

Although Rider and Niagara always cause chaos in the conference and even with the new additions of Sacred Heart and Merrimack having a say in this coming season, Quinnipiac, Fairfield and Canisius remain as the top three teams in the MAAC.

The remaining question marks 

Heading into this season, the question that’s on everyone’s mind lies in the heart of this Quinnipiac team. Two graduated players, Markela Bejleri and Olivia Scott, led the midfield for what felt like longer than one can count. Both Bejleri and Scott joined the program in 2019 and left with two MAAC Championships. Now the team will look to fill the hole they left behind.

In Clarke’s classic 4-3-3 formation, Scott tended to stay back more in a defensive midfielder role, while Bejleri played in an attacking midfielder role. This past season was the epitome of what they have meant to this team’s success. 

Insert Gagno. One of three preseason All-MAAC selections from Quinnipiac. Gagno will have to step up in the middle after playing alongside Bejleri in the attacking midfield. Gagno played in all 18 competitions last season. She started 15 of those games and is known as a quiet killer when on the field. 

“It’s honestly been the best spring I have had since I have been here,” Gagno said. “I think that momentum has really carried over to the beginning of this season.”

Outside of Gagno, there is very little experience that makes up the middle of the field.

Stepping into that midfield role could be a combination of players. This is all dependent on the type of game Clarke and the rest of the coaching staff feels will give them the best chance to win. Some names that will be a focal point are senior Rachel Roman, sophomore Liv MacDonnell and freshman Klara Bengtsson. Bengtsson received high praise from both Gagno and Clarke. 

“We have some great new players who are going to fill some of those roles,” Gagno said. “A lot of people have stepped up, especially since I was not playing in the spring.” 

The bottom line is that the midfield is going to have to grow up quickly. Their first two opponents in this upcoming season finished in the top 100 in the country in the NCAA Rankings Power Index (RPI) at the end of 2023. That index is out of all 347 Division I women’s soccer programs. Hofstra finished No. 89 and Georgetown finished No. 12. Quinnipiac ranked No. 88. 

“I always use the word trust,” Clarke said. “The idea that they [returning players] can come back in, play and contribute. I have got to learn to trust them in those situations.” 

Clarke was quick to point out that even with the losses up the middle, it will be a very experienced starting lineup. The only women’s soccer players in the MAAC who have won both league and tournament championships are all playing with the word “Bobcats” across their nameplates. 

All 27 players and the coaching staff know that there is a target on their back. One message that the program consistently echoed is that pressure is a privilege

“I think we just need to embrace it,” Gagno said. “It means that we have accomplished a lot in our careers. I think we just need to keep going forward with that.” 

Each season, the program has wanted to improve. That all starts with advancing into the second round of the NCAA tournament. Penn State and Brown knocked Quinnipiac out in the previous two seasons, 4-1 and 3-0 respectively.

“We really focused on what that felt like losing that game,” graduate forward Courtney Chochol said. “We don’t want it to end at the first round this year.”