The Quinnipiac University field hockey team ended the regular season with a 3-1 victory over Monmouth on Senior Day.
The seniors, defenders Megan Dahle and Shannon Whittemore, and forwards Jennifer Kinchla and Ann Marie Mangano were honored before the game.
According to coach Becca Kohli, the four seniors each brought something different to the team.
“Each of them gave a little unique creativity to the team,” Kohli said. “Annie brought us motivation. Megan gave the fierce competitiveness. Shannon gave us that calm, and Jen provided that spark that we needed.”
There was a mix of emotions for the seniors about playing field hockey at Quinnipiac for the final time. Mangano knew the end would hit her more in the future.
“It’s bittersweet,” Mangano said. “It feels a little surreal. I don’t think it will hit me until about May or June.”
Whittemore also knows she will have to get used to not playing the sport she loves everyday.
“It feels good to have made it this far,” Whittemore said. “But I don’t know what I’ll do with the extra time I’ll have during the day.”
With Friday’s game producing the Bobcats third win in a row, and fourth in their last fives games, the seniors got to go out with a couple victories.
“It feels really good to end on a winning streak and finish it all off on a high note,” Dahle said.
One thing all four mentioned was their teammates. Kinchla, a vocal leader for the Bobcats throughout her career, summed up these sentiments.
“I’m going to miss playing on the field with my teammates the most,” Kinchla said. “I love all these girls.”
Their underclassmen teammates made sure the Quinnipiac seniors would win their last home game. Junior Lauren Hartnett scored the first goal of the contest just over eight minutes into the game. The goal came off a rebounded shot by junior Bonnie Shea, who got the assist, and put the Bobcats up 1-0.
The score would remain the same until just over seven minutes into the second half, when Monmouth’s Enza Mazza tied up the score. That would be the only goal Quinnipiac junior goalie Jenna Grossman would allow on the day, as she finished with five saves.
The Bobcats offense then exploded with two goals in 38 seconds. First, with 7:47 remaining freshman Megan McCreedy took advantage off a loose ball to put the Bobcats up 2-1. Then, with 7:09 left in the game, Shea scored to make the score 3-1 and put the game away.
This win underlines Kohli’s belief on how the season has gone for her team.
“I call it a tale of two different seasons,” Kohli said. “The second half was good hockey and good emotion. We learned a lot from this.”
The win helped make Quinnipiac’s final regular season record 5-13, and 3-4 in the Northeast Conference.
