The Quinnipiac men’s soccer team (3-8-1 overall, 2-3 MAAC) lost to Iona (4-4-2 overall, 3-2 MAAC) on Wednesday 1-0. It’s the fifth time this season that the Bobcats have lost 1-0.

[media-credit id=2200 align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]Despite the result, Quinnipiac head coach Eric Da Costa said he still believes there are good things to come for his team.

“I felt there were many positives to take out from the game,” Da Costa said. “Even though there were quite a few mental lapses, we’re three wins away from a playoff spot, and from that perspective we could be right in the middle of the pack.”

In the first half, both teams kept each other off the board, but Quinnipiac junior defenseman Chris Casagranda received a yellow card at 14:02, which started many physical altercations between both teams. This game had a total of six penalties which is a season high for Quinnipiac.

According to Da Costa, the rivalry between the two programs, factored into Wednesday’s game.

“There is certainly no love lost between the players of both programs,” Da Costa said. “It’s been ever since Iona came into the league and we knew this would be a tough match today.”

In the second half, Iona took the lead on goal at 49:03 by junior forward Killian Colombie who took the ball up the far side and shot it to the far low post. The Bobcats would hold the lead for the rest of the game.

Although his performance wasn’t shown on the stat sheet, senior defenseman Will Pustari was still involved in the majority of the scoring chances, which included 14 shots and five corner kicks for Quinnipiac.

Pustari praised Iona for its play and how they were able to stop the Bobcats from getting too far into the box.

“They’re a good countering team and they move really fast,” Pustari said. “Once you get a ball past the midfield then you get exposed, and it’s a really simple concept.”

[media-credit id=2200 align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]Another player who was a part of many scoring chances was senior midfielder Max Rothenbuecher. Rothenbuecher had two shots against Iona while having one goal, two assists, four points, and six shots on goal this season.

Rothenbuecher reflected on some of the things that he felt played a role in Wednesday’s defeat.

“We were too impatient offensively, going offside a little bit too much,” he said. “They played us really smart.”

The Bobcats will next attempt to pick up their second road win of the season on Saturday against Manhattan, who is currently first in the MAAC with a 4-0 record in conference play and possesses 7-4 record overall.