The Quinnipiac women’s soccer team defeated Iona at home on Wednesday afternoon by a final score of 3-2.

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Sophomore forward Nadya Gill led the Bobcats with a goal and an assist. Senior midfielder Kelly Caruso and freshman forward Ally Grunstein each added goals for the Bobcats, while redshirt freshman Kylie Lance and sophomore defenseman Katrina Friedman each had an assist.

This was the fifth straight victory for the Bobcats, pushing them to 9-4-1 on the season and 5-2 in MAAC play. Quinnipiac is also a perfect 7-0 at home. The Gaels fall to 1-11-2 on the season.

Quinnipiac started off strong when Caruso scored her third goal of the season just 5:04 into the match. That was the Bobcats’ lone goal of the half as they took a 1-0 lead into the half.

In the second half, it appeared the Bobcats would coast to an easy victory after Gill and Grunstein scored at the 63:19 and 68:48 marks, respectively.

However, the Gaels showed some fight and got on the board on Amber Crispin’s goal at the 70:28 mark. Then, at the 81:06 mark, Iona trimmed the lead to one on Emily Hansen’s penalty kick.

“We took our foot off the gas,” Quinnipiac head coach Dave Clarke said. “They’ve got to learn to win. We didn’t play particularly well today.”

The Bobcats held on despite a chaotic finish to the match.

“The last couple of minutes were too hectic with our decision making,” Clarke said. “But that’s some of our younger players making those decisions, so they should learn from this.”

The victory had major implications for the Bobcats, as they are now on the cusp of a MAAC playoff berth.

The top six teams in the MAAC qualify for the playoffs, and Quinnipiac currently sits fourth. It has an eight-point lead on seventh place Marist, a team it defeated 3-0 on October 1. Marist has three games remaining in the regular season while Quinnipiac has four.

“We’ve got one foot in the playoffs, but you don’t want to take chances,” Clarke said. “We’ve given ourselves a good foundation and that’s all you can ask for.”

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The Bobcats are now riding five-game win streak, their longest since 2007 when they won eight straight.

“Winning five in a row is a great confidence booster,” Gill said. “We feel great, confident. We know what we can do. Going into a game like Monmouth we’re confident that we can do well.”

Monmouth will present a challenge for Quinnipiac, as it currently top the MAAC Conference standings with a perfect 5-0 record in the league.

Clarke knows it is going to take a stronger effort from his team to pull out a victory at Monmouth on Saturday.

“We’ll get over that performance and Monmouth is going to be a different type of game,” he said.