The Monmouth Hawks field hockey team came into Hamden looking for revenge over their former Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference foe, the Quinnipiac Bobcats. The Hawks had the last laugh, as they defeated the Bobcats 3-2 for their seventh win in the last eight matchups between the two teams.
Here are three takeaways from Sunday’s game:
Early and Often
Head coach Becca Main spoke after the game about making sure the Bobcats are not waiting until the end of the game to start the aggressive play. Monmouth scored just over five minutes into the game as Josephine van der Hoop notched her eighth goal of the year. In each of Quinnipiac’s six losses so far this season, the opposition has been the first to score. Getting out of that hole has been tough, as the Bobcats have failed to do so in each of those games. However when they do score first, the Bobcats are 2-0. If it comes early, it will take less pressure on the defense and their center-piece Livy Golini.
“You can’t finish, you can’t wait until the end of the game and push it down someone’s throat. That’s when you’re not going to be able to finish. That’s when you’re looking for the lucky bounces or you’re looking for the lucky calls. We don’t want that. We want that to be done and taken care of much earlier.” –Becca Main
Livy Golini
The consistent bright spot for the Bobcats early on in their 2017 campaign has been the goalkeeper Livy Golini. With seven more stops Sunday, the York, Maine native leads the Big East Conference in saves with 44. Golini made her presence shown multiple times against Monmouth making key stops on several penalty corners and rebounds. Just a sophomore, Golini will continue to progress with her play, which is something the Bobcats desperately need heading into Big East play.
“I think for us a team where we have those moments of a lull or a breakdown, Livy is a leader for us. She’s one of those people that is going to get us out of that.” –Becca Main
Who is the go-to scorer?
Scoring has been few and far between for Quinnipiac on the young season, and is something that needs to quickly improve as the Bobcats begin conference games. Quinnipiac has only scored more than two goals just once in 2017 ( including four in its win against Yale). Sophomore Valerie Perkins leads the team with three goals, three Bobcats have two goals, and four have contributed with one tally each. Main thinks senior Lauren Belskie is the go-to scorer, though she has only tallied two goals thus far.
“You want Lauren Belskie to have the ball. She has one of the best sweeps in the country… I want Lauren to have the ball to put the ball in the net.” –Becca Main
Quinnipiac will look to improve upon its 1-0 record in the Big East as they take on Liberty on Friday at the Quinnipiac Field Hockey Complex.
