On a cold and windy fall afternoon last Tuesday, the Quinnipiac women’s soccer team earned a big win to keep its Northeast Conference tournament hopes alive. The Bobcats defeated the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights, 2-0, to improve their record to 9-5-2 overall and 3-3-2 in the NEC.

Freshman Susan Donovan continued her exceptional season by scoring both of the Bobcat goals in the second half. The two goals brought her season total to seven goals while also contributing three assists.

The first goal came at 17:42 in the first half. Junior Brittany Lockwood served a ball from the left side of the field to the box on the right side. Donovan beat the defender to the ball and then blasted a shot that beat the Knights’ keeper Kyla Clark.

The second goal came at 39:27 as freshman Amber Sidoti stole the ball from a Knights defender. She then found Donovan streaking to the net and once again Donovan buried the ball into the back of the net. The goal stretched the Bobcats advantage to 2-0.

The Bobcats used the advantage of having the wind at their backs in the first half to take the early lead. However, Quinnipiac head coach Dave Clarke was happy to see his team get on the scoreboard this game.

“The goals had dried up the last couple of games, so it was nice to score, take the lead, and then build on it for the second half,” Clarke said.

The second half showcased the Bobcats stingy defense. The team kept the Knights off the scoreboard and secured their seventh shutout of the season.

When the Knights did pose a threat, senior goalkeeper Sarah Lusto was up to the challenge as she recorded 11 saves. In a two minute span, Lusto made two huge saves at critical moments. The first was a diving save and the second Lusto stopped the ball as it was heading for the upper right corner of the net.

The Bobcats had one other good scoring chance in the second half. Sidoti took the ball into the box and beat Clark, but the Knights’ Kate Hilder was there to make the save.

The win helped the Bobcats to break a three game losing streak. Clarke was impressed on how the team reverted back to playing the way they were playing before the losing streak.

“We got back do doing what we had done up to a week ago,” he said. “They were working for each other, closing down, chasing, winning tackles, and winning 50-50 balls.”

The Bobcats had their season come to an end on Sunday when they dropped a home game against CCSU, 2-0.