The conditions at Quinnipiac’s soccer field were not the most ideal for the women’s soccer team to come home to. After playing the first five games on the road and losing the last three, the Bobcats fought their way back twice late in the game to earn a 3-3 tie with the Fordham Rams on a cold, drizzling late Friday afternoon.
Leandra Price scored the first goal of the game 16 minutes in, but Fordham battled its way back and took the lead with about 14 minutes to play. Just a few minutes after Quinnipiac had a goal disallowed because the play was offside, the Bobcats tied the game with about two minutes left. Rachele See put a shot just under the crossbar after a scramble at the top of the box, sending the game into overtime.
Playing non-sudden death, Quinnipiac gave up a goal after a failed clear 11:30 into the extra period. However, the Rams were called for a handball in the box two minutes later. Cristina Salamone put away the penalty kick to give the Bobcats a hard earned tie.
“The team really stuck with it and played until the final whistle,” said Quinnipiac head coach Dave Clarke. “Scoring three goals and coming back twice late in the game is something that we can take as a positive from this game.”
The Bobcats did give up a couple goals off of set plays which Clarke knows the team will have to improve on before the North East Conference opener on Sept. 30. Quinnipiac, which finished third in the NEC last season, was picked to finish sixth in the preseason coaches’ poll this year.
“We’re not a sixth place team,” Clarke said. “We’re better this season collectively and while last year it almost seemed like we were just happy with just qualifying for the playoffs, we should be able to play with more confidence and less pressure this season.”
Quinnipiac had won the first two games to start the season but had lost three in a row coming into the game with Fordham, including a 5-1 loss to nationally recognized Yale earlier in the week. However, even with the loss, Clarke could take some positives after playing a very strong opponent.
“We matched them for 45 minutes. And we were still down by one goal after 70 minutes,” Clarke said. “We took some gambles trying to get an equalizer, but once they got the third goal it kind of got away from us. Some games you hold on there, sometimes you don’t.”
The win over Fordham improved the Bobcats’ record to 2-3-1. Quinnipiac hosts Albany on Wednesday before traveling to Washington, D.C., this weekend for games against Howard and Navy.
