[media-credit id=2242 align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]A six-goal second half was not enough for the Quinnipiac women’s lacrosse team (5-7, 1-3 MAAC) as it lost to Marist (7-4 overall, 3-0 MAAC) by a score of 8-7 on Saturday afternoon in Hamden.

After going down 5-1 at the half, the Bobcats stormed back and were able to make it a game, but ultimately the effort wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit from the first half.

“Marist is definitely a great team,” Quinnipiac head coach Tanya Kotowicz said. “They’re a physical team and they came to battle today.”

The opening half was all Marist. On the offensive side, Marist freshman midfielder Camille Renaud led the way, scoring two goals to contribute to an early 3-0 Marist lead only five minutes into the game. From then on, Marist was able to tack on a couple more to extend their lead to 5-0 before junior midfielder Allison Kuhn got Quinnipiac on the board with four seconds remaining in the half.

“Two games, 5-0 to start, is unacceptable,” Kotowicz said. “We are definitely trying different ways from the coaching staff standpoint, but also the mental discipline is missing in our game and we’re going to work on that this week.”

The real story of the first half was freshman goaltender Delaney Galvin. Other than giving up the goal late to Kuhn, Galvin was perfect for the Red Foxes, shutting down the Quinnipiac offense as she made nine saves in the half. Galvin came into the day leading the MAAC in both save percentage (.539) and saves per game (12.9).

“Let’s go,” Kotowicz said when asked about her message to the team at the half. “Let’s start playing Quinnipiac lacrosse. Stick to the game plan.”

Kotowicz’s message to her team was well received. In the second half, after a quick goal by Marist to go up 6-1, the Bobcats stepped up their play and slowly started to scratch away at the lead. Goals by sophomore attack Ashley Bobinski, sophomore midfielder Brianna Fitzgerald and senior attack Loren Antonacci brought the Bobcats within two goals.

[media-credit id=2242 align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]From then on, it was a back and forth battle. Each team exchanged two goals, and then with 58 seconds left, Kuhn completed the hat trick and brought the Bobcats within one goal of tying Marist, as Kotowicz took a timeout. However, the Bobcats could not capitalize on the opportunity and Marist held on to win the game 8-7.

“That possession was very important,” Kotowicz said. “Obviously, win the draw and then make sure we got the ball to our offense and found a good look. One of the looks we had seen throughout the whole game. Unfortunately, we were not able to get that, and then obviously, that was the end.”

Despite the loss, Kotowicz was pleased in her team’s ability to stay in the game and not give up.

“[The team] won’t let down,” Kotowicz said. “They’re not finished and we’re going to steal another game and we have a new opportunity on Wednesday.”

The Bobcats next matchup will be against Fairfield (6-5 overall, 2-1 MAAC) on Wednesday, April 11 in Fairfield, Connecticut at 3 p.m.