Furtuna Velaj scored a last-second goal to surge the Quinnipiac women’s soccer team past Mount St. Mary’s 2-1 on Friday, but Meagan McLoughlin’s one goal on Sunday wasn’t enough to beat NEC leader Monmouth.
Velaj received a pass from McLoughlin and beat the Mount St. Mary’s’ goalie to the upper-right corner with one second left in double overtime to give the Bobcats a 3-2 win in Emmitsburg, Md.
“It was a weird feeling,” Velaj said. “I was happy, but at the same time, I could not believe that I just scored with one second left. It was just like the movies.”
At first, the sophomore star did not even realize she scored.
“I remember the (referee) counting down 5,4,3,2..and the first thought in my mind was ‘just like practice, shoot wide.’ I actually thought the goalie saved the shot but when I looked over my shoulder the whole team was rushing straight at me,” she said.
It was Velaj’s eighth goal of the season and 24th point.
Mount Saint Mary’s got the scoring started with a goal from Meghamn Brennan just four minutes into the game. Susan Donovan tied the score in the 29th minute.
Quinnipiac took their first lead of the game with a goal from McLoughin, but the Mountaineers responded less than a minute later when Brennan retied the game with her second goal of the game.
The score remained tied at 2 until Velaj came through in the final second of the second overtime to give the Bobcats the victory.
On Sunday, the Bobcats traveled to West Long Branch, N.J., to take on the Monmouth Hawks in Quinnipiac’s final road game of the year. The Hawks proved to be too much as the Bobcats fell 4-1.
The Hawks took the lead on a penalty kick goal in the 39th minute from Ali Kliment and never looked back. They expanded the lead to two when Mary Wilks beat Bobcat goalie Elizabeth Cook in the 73rd minute.
Ten minutes later McLoughin scored her second goal of the weekend off a corner from Velaj. McLoughin was able to get the ball after it was tipped by the Hawks goalie and McLoughin deflected it into the goal.
The Hawks added two more goals late in the game to seal the win.
After splitting the weekend, the Bobcats record stands at 6-6-2 (5-2-1 NEC) and are in sole possession of third place in the NEC. The Bobcats return to action on Oct. 30 when they face Robert Morris in an NEC matchup at the Quinnipiac Soccer Field.
