In the second game of their home stand, the Quinnipiac men’s lacrosse team played conference rival Sacred Heart University on April 11. The Bobcats battled with Sacred Heart, but lost to the Pioneers 12-9. The loss drops the Bobcats to 3-7 on the year while Sacred Heart improves to 4-8.
The Bobcats got on the board first, thanks to an unassisted goal from Mike Gast. The Pioneers responded with two goals from Evan Morgan and Dennis Gannon in the next five minutes to take a 2-1 lead. Then Quinnipiac struck back with a goal from Jack Oppenheimer, tying the score at 2. In the waning moments of the first quarter, the Pioneers took the lead once again with a goal from Dan Casciano.
The Pioneers took control in the second quarter, outshooting the Bobcats 12-5. In the quarter, Sacred Heart could only sneak one goal past goalie Kevin Benzing, Morgan’s second of the afternoon. Meanwhile, Garett Kerr was assisted by Kevin Kelly for his seventh goal of the season and Gary Messina added an unassisted goal, his fourth of the season, to bring the score an even 4-4 at the half.
In the second half, Sacred Heart really took off, scoring three goals in the first 10 minutes of the game. Timmy Katz scored his first of the game, and Casciano and Gannon added their second for the Pioneers. Quinnipiac responded with a goal from Alex DeAlmeida who received the assist from Ted Dimond and slapped it past SHU goaltender, Zach Frank, to cut the Pioneer lead to 7-5.
Sacred Heart responded with two more goals, one from Aaron Lupo and Katz’s second of the afternoon, to put distance in their lead, now 9-5. QU’s Oppenheimer cut the lead to three with his second goal of the afternoon in the last seconds of the third quarter.
The Bobcats entered the fourth quarter down 9-6 and were eager to make up for lost time. Although, the Pioneers’ Jon Flood gave SHU a 10-6 lead, the Bobcats responded with goals from Pat Elliot and Kelly in the next two minutes, cutting the lead to 10-8. Sacred Heart responded, preserving their lead with two more goals, Casciano and Katz’s third of the game. Oppenheimer got the hat trick, scoring his third goal, thanks to an assist from Gast with less than a minute left. It was too little too late for the Bobcats, as they lost to their rivals, the Sacred Heart Pioneers, 12-9.
The men’s lacrosse team finishes their three-game home stand on April 18 against Great Western Lacrosse League rival, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Their final home game is set to start at 11 a.m.
