The Quinnipiac men’s lacrosse team redeemed themselves after being thoroughly walloped by Vermont in their home opener.
On Friday, the Bobcats gutted out a 6-5 victory at Providence College, a formidable foe which earned the top spot in the 2007 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll.
Goalie Roger Fish, who earned the victory in net by making six saves, said that the win helps swing the confidence pendulum the Bobcats way after the crushing loss.
“It was definitely good for us to come back after a tough loss that we felt we underachieved in,” said Fish, a first-year starter who saw time as a freshman before falling out of favor last season.
“It’s important that we got a win under our belt going into a long stretch,” Fish said. “Providence is a good team. We played them strong. They played us strong. But it definitely feels good to come out on top in the end.”
Senior Mike Stottler, who netted four goals in the 15-8 loss against Vermont, facilitated the scoring attack once again. The middie tallied four points total, scoring a goal and dishing out a game-high three assists before a strongly-partisan 290 at Friar Field.
Senior Tucker Prudden had two goals and an assist, including consecutive goals in the second and third stanzas which gave the Bobcats a 4-2 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Prudden’s first goal came with 3:10 remaining in the second period and sparked a 3-0 run that provided the Bobcats a three-goal cushion. The surge was concluded by Stottler, who found the back of the net during a man-up situation with 5:28 remaining in the third stanza.
“You have to be prepared each week to bring your best,” Fish said. “All the teams [on the schedule] are really tough. Each week you’re going to get a good team. You never know what you’re going to get from that team. We were definitely a little shocked by what we saw in the first week, but we definitely bounced back good and I think that was important for us.”
Fish threw praise at the defense for holding a powerful offense in check. Though they came roaring back from three goals down at the end of the third, no Providence player scored on more than one possession.
“I think our defense played awesome. I can’t give them enough credit,” Fish said “They stopped the ball and really took a lot of pressure off of me I didn’t have to do too much. It was a great game for a lot of position players and a lot of our young guys. We definitely had some good transition goals. We had some freshman really step up big for us which I think is going to be a big momentum shift for us for the rest of the season.”
Among these freshmen were Matt Loveland and Mike Gast, both of whom netted their first career goals. Loveland’s goal came a minute and 35 seconds into the second frame and gave the Bobcats an early 2-1 advantage. Gast scored an insurance goal on a man-up chance with 9:37 remaining in the fourth.
