Despite Meagan McLoughlin’s game-tying goal in the 71st minute, the Bobcats were defeated 2-1 on Oct. 10. Furtuna Velaj assisted McLoughlin’s goal on a corner kick, but the lone goal was not enough to beat the first place Monmouth Hawks.

Entering this weekend, the Bobcat’s knew that they would be in for a tough game. Monmouth is now 10-1-1 overall and 3-0 in the NEC conference after beating Quinnipiac. Monmouth has a firm grasp of first place in the NEC, however if the 5-3-1 Bobcats had upset the Hawks, Quinnipiac would have only been a game and a half out of first.

After a fairly even first half with the Hawks leading 1-0, the Bobcats came out aggressive in the second half. They were in control and on the offensive; however, it seemed like they could not catch the needed break to tie the game. With about ten minutes left in the game, freshman phenom Furtuna Velaj had an open shot, but just barely missed the right corner of the goal.

Still down 1-0 late in the game, the bobcats started to become more and more physical. Finally, with two minutes left, the Bobcats had a corner kick – a terrific opportunity to score. They ran their normal corner kick play: a short pass to Velaj who then crosses it to the middle. This time it worked, as Velaj found McLoughlin on a header, for the game-tying goal. With less than two minutes left, it looked as if the Bobcats had momentum on their side.

However, Monmouth quickly deflated the Bobcats’ momentum with a goal, taking the lead for good. While the 2-1 loss was frustrating for the Bobcats, they had a chance to redeem themselves in another conference game with Mount St. Mary’s on Sunday Oct. 12. They tied the Mountaineers 2-2 as Kristina Del Mistro and Amber Sidoti scored for the Bobcats.