Heading up to Newton, Mass., to face the ACC’s Boston College Eagles on Monday afternoon, the Bobcats brought along five wins, five ties and an empty loss column. It was a long, quiet bus ride back to Hamden after the Eagles handed Quinnipiac their first loss of the season, a nail-biter, 1-0.
Colin Murphy scored the game’s lone goal in the 43rd minute of the first half, which snapped a 343-minute streak of shutout goalkeeping from Quinnipiac’s senior captain Freddy Hall. Murphy one-timed Edvin Worley’s pass on a half-volley from 22 yards out past Hall’s diving effort. Charlie Rugg was also credited with an assist on the goal.
“[Hall] and the defense played very well today,” Quinnipiac head coach Eric Da Costa said. “He made a few tremendous saves that kept us in the game today and there is no goalie in Division I that could have made a save on that goal.”
The Bobcats had trouble finding support for Hall, as the offense could only muster five shots as a team, none of which were on goal, to challenge one of the ACC’s top goalkeepers. Justin Luthy, a freshman out of Dublin, Ohio, leads the conference in saves per game and total saves.
Nick Pelicaen, who received a yellow card early in the second half, paced Quinnipiac with three shots. But junior Pierre Soubrier may have had the best opportunity to score in the 18th minute of the scoreless affair. Sophomore Durval Pereira took a corner kick from the far side and Soubrier got a head on it, but landed just wide of the net.
Quinnipiac also missed on two corner kick tries in the final five minutes, and were called offsides shortly after.
“This was a great game,” Da Costa said. “Both teams played an excellent game. We had some very good opportunities to take the lead, but couldn’t get one by. I am very pleased with our performance and I know that we can continue this level of play as we head into the stretch of our Northeast Conference schedule.”
The loss also put an end to out-of-conference play, as Quinnipiac stares at seven in-conference games with just two at home next weekend.
Fittingly, the loss came in the first match following a six-game homestand in which the Bobcats went 3-0-3 overall and 2-0-1 in NEC play. Quinnipiac remains undefeated in conference play and stand tied for second with Sacred Heart behind Monmouth (11-0-1, 3-0-1 NEC).
Quinnipiac kicks off the weekend with a Friday night match at Fairleigh Dickinson, and closes the weekend in Fairfield, Conn., to face off against Sacred Heart.
