The Quinnipiac women’s lacrosse team is no stranger to slow starts against tougher non-conference opponents, and the Bobcats are off to another tough one this season.
Quinnipiac lost their second straight game to open the season, falling to Connecticut, 20-6, Saturday at Quinnipiac Field Hockey & Lacrosse Turf Complex.
Last season, the Bobcats started the year 1-4 before winning their next six games, all in Northeast Conference play. In 2011, Quinnipiac went 0-3 before winning the NEC Championship.
“We really knew that playing a challenging schedule would illuminate our weaknesses, quite clearly, and hopefully give us the opportunity to work on them and get everything rolling the way we want them to before we enter conference play,” Quinnipiac head coach Danie Caro said.
Despite staying close with UConn (3-0) early on, the Bobcats (0-2) were outscored 12-2 over a 26-minute span overlapping halves. Quinnipiac trailed 12-4 at halftime.
Caro started sophomore goalkeeper Samantha Tilts, but switched to freshman Rachel Massicotte 10 minutes into the first half. After Massicotte played the next 34 minutes and allowed 13 goals, Caro switched back to Tilts.
“All of our goalies have things to work on,” Caro said. “It’s been a bit of a disappointment early on, our defense has not been great, but even the times when we’ve had great defensive plays, we need the goalies to step up and make some saves. That’s gonna be a work in progress for us.”
Tilts allowed six goals within the first 10 minutes, as Quinnipiac fell into a 6-2 hole. Both goalies have struggled early on, allowing 39 goals in the team’s first two games, yet Caro said they have the right mentality in practice.
“They’ve had a really good attitude and have stayed positive, they’re not getting down on themselves and taking a bad situation and making it worse, so I’m really happy with how hard they’re working and their attitude,” Caro said. “We just have to get their execution level higher.”
Kyra Ochwat scored twice and four others also scored for the Bobcats.
Kacey Pippitt and Katherine Finkelston both scored four goals, while eight others scored for the Huskies, who came off a win vs. No. 15 Boston College.
The Bobcats were outshot 37-15 in the game and turned the ball over seven times. Quinnipiac has five consecutive non-conference road games before starting conference play at home vs. Sacred Heart on March 22.
“We’re turning the ball over way too much, we’re not communicating the way we need to on defense, and that’s something we’ll be working on the next week and a half,” Caro said.
