After losing to Sacred Heart three straight years in the Northeast Conference finals, the women’s lacrosse team defeated the in-state rival 14-5 on Friday, but that wasn’t even the most exciting win of the weekend.
The Bobcats extended their win streak to six games with a dramatic 16-15 double overtime victory over Denver on Sunday afternoon.
“I don’t really know, I just got the ball and shot it and it just happened to go in,” senior Lauren Matuszczak said, who scored the game-winning goal in the second overtime period.
Junior Devon Gibney grabbed the ball off the draw and found sophomore Sarah Allen. Allen sailed the ball to Matuszczak, who buried her opportunity past Denver’s goalie.
Matuszczak collapsed to the ground with overwhelming excitement.
“We kept fighting back,” Quinnipiac assistant coach Brittany Hauser said. “[Gibney] saw the ball, got it, looked up right away and saw [Allen] and she saw [Matuszczak]. It’s 1-2-3. It’s all we were looking for and we got it done.”
Although the Bobcats had a stellar finish, miscommunication cost them nearly 15 minutes in the first half.
“With the timeout call, we really fixed that,” Hauser said. “We told them they really need to communicate with each other and stop with the silly mistakes.”
The Bobcats took a 6-2 lead at the 18:02 mark, but the Pioneers went on a six-point surge to take their first lead of the game, 8-2. The Bobcats put a tally on the scoreboard at the 3:57 mark.
“We had trouble making passes and actually connecting,” Matuszczak said. “We had a lot of turnovers that were kind of forced and we didn’t really need to make them. It was just trying to get composed.”
Quinnipiac battled to even the score, 8-8, at halftime.
In the second half, the Bobcats took a 13-10 lead but could not secure it. Denver tied the game, 13-13, at the 8:37 mark.
With nearly five minutes left in the game, the Bobcats advanced their lead, 14-13, and passed the ball around in the offensive zone to chew up the clock.
The Pioneers regained possession with just over one minute remaining. Pioneers’ Lauren Ciccomascolo scored at the 1:01 mark forcing the game into overtime.
The Bobcats drew first blood in the overtime period. After a free-position shot, the ball ripped off the post right into junior Marissa Caroleo’s stick. The goaltender was out of position, so Caroleo made an easy pass to the back of the net.
The Pioneers scored with 44 seconds remaining in overtime sending the game into a sudden-death overtime.
With just 16 seconds into the second overtime period, Matuszczak scored the game-winner.
“This win gives us a lot of confidence going into the rest of our season,” Hauser said. “In the past, we’ve always had a few non-conference games and we haven’t won them in the past. It’s been a little letdown in the middle of our season. This keeps us on our high.”
The Bobcats look to continue their six-game winning streak as they play at Columbia at 3 p.m. today.
