Devon Gibney always had the offensive firepower for the Bobcats. It wasn’t until this past weekend when her team saw it in full effect.
Gibney scored six goals and scored on two of three free positions and Quinnipiac defeated Robert Morris 14-11 at Quinnipiac University Field Hockey and Lacrosse Turf Field Sunday.
“Devon had a great offensive performance, especially when you consider that they face-guarded her for the last 40 minutes,” Quinnipiac head coach Danie Caro said. “We’ve sort of been waiting for Devon to come along. She’s been playing well all year, she’s been a work horse for us in the midfield and done a good job defensively, but today she had the offensive game that we knew she’s capable of.”
After starting off the season 0-3, Quinnipiac is now riding a four-game winning streak, three of which were against Northeast Conference opponents.
“I think we gained a lot of experience in those early games,” Caro said. “Even though we didn’t win, we did some nice things and we continued to build on that.
“For the first time all season, we played for 60 minutes and that’s been our goal all along. If we can play like that the rest of the way I like our chances.”
video credit: QU athletics
With a hat trick and two assists in Friday’s 17-10 win against Saint Francis (Pa.), Gibney has upped her totals to 21 points and 15 goals, both rank third on the team.
Lauren Matuszczak, Sarah Allen and Lianne Toomey all recorded three points, while goalkeeper Noelle Martello made 12 saves for the Bobcats (4-3, 3-0 NEC).
“Noelle Martello played a nice game for us,” Caro said. “She had a couple of nice saves, followed by good, quick clears and generated some transition offense for us. She’s been solid back there.”
Rachel Engel scored four times and had an assist for Robert Morris (2-7, 1-1 NEC).
Laura Iannotti started a 4-1 run midway through the second when her shot from inside the arc hit the inside of the post and went behind the net. Matuszczak gave the Bobcats more breathing room when she one-timed a pass from Toomey from behind the net for an 11-9 lead with 17:21 to go.
Toomey and Matuszczak responded again when Toomey sent a shot over a defender and past RMU goalkeeper Kaitlin Pentz after Matuszczak passed the ball to her.
Photo credit: Matt Eienberg
