The Quinnipiac men’s soccer team delivered another nail biter last night as they kept fans at the game on the edge of their seats throughout the whole 90 minutes and head coach Eric Da Costa hoping the result ended in his teams’ favor.
The Bobcats toppled conference foe Sacred Heart in a chippy 1-0 game on Friday afternoon at the QU Soccer Field at the Mount Carmel Campus.
The game’s lone goal came from the head of junior Tim Quigley in the 19th minute of play who redirected a corner kick from the foot of Robbie McLarney. From then until the end of regulation Da Costa likely went from his finger nails all the way to the nerve endings. Sacred Heart (5-5, 1-2 NEC) led the game in shots (12-4), shots on goal (6-1), and corner kicks (7-2). The game was decided by Bobcat keeper Borja Angoitia who deflected all six shots that Sacred Heart placed on frame.
“All it takes is one goal and then to keep the opponent off the scoreboard,” Da Costa said. “Conference games are always a battle and Sacred Heart’s the defending regular-season champion, so I’m very proud of the way our guys stuck to the game plan and executed the strategy to walk away with the win.”
Of the nine games the Bobcats have played in the season, seven have been decided by a single goal. The other two games, a 3-1 win against Lafayette and a double-overtime draw at Vermont.
After a three goal performance against St. Francis (N.Y.) in their previous game the Bobcats only managed a single shot on net in the match-up with Sacred Heart. Fortunately for Quinnipiac, it found the twine. William Daniels accounted for one shot and Philip Suprise registered an additional two. The offense found a new source of offensive production in Tim Quigley whose goal was his first of the year.
At one point in the season, Suprise had netted six consecutive goals for the team. However, in the last two games there have been four goals scored, none of which coming from Suprise. After the match Da Costa noted the importance of his squad both scoring and defending as a unit.
The NEC match was physical in nature. Quinnipiac collected 25 fouls to Sacred Heart’s 16. For the Bobcat’s McLarney and Simon Hinde each picked up yellow cards in the second half while Marcello Castro of Sacred Heart managed a red card.
In the Bobcat’s next match against LIU Brooklyn on Sunday they can hopefully deliver Da Costa a state of ataraxia by combining offensive production with another strong defensive showing.
