[media-credit id=2258 align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]In a tight match between the Quinnipiac field hockey team and the No. 10 Maine Black Bears, the Bobcats fell short 3-2 at the Quinnipiac Field Hockey Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Though the Bobcats fell short in the end, freshman forward Makayla Adams believed that this game gave the team the spark they needed and wants to play all the time with this emotion.

“I think our team came out knowing we wanted to win and we were really gritty and aggressive, which is something we needed.” Adams said. “We wanted to show them that even know they were the number nine team, we would give them a run for their money.”

The game began with an aggressive assault by both teams, however it was Maine who came out more aggressive than the Bobcats. The Black Bears started early with a flurry of shots on goal, but none reached the net.

The game was in a 0-0 deadlock until Maine’s senior back Samantha Wagg broke the game open with her fourth goal of the season off a penalty corner, putting the Black Bears on top 1-0 in the first half.

Quiet for almost the entire first half, the Bobcats’ offense finally came to life in the last minute when Adams scored her second goal of the season, tying the game at one as the half came to an end. This is the kind of motivation that the Bobcats needed, as they were putting shots on goal, but weren’t producing any results.

The second half started with Maine junior forward Brianna Ricker scoring her second goal of the season not even a minute in the half, putting the Black Bears ahead 2-1. However, this left too much time for the Bobcats, as two minutes later freshman forward Elisa Van Winkel tied the game at two. From there, the game was all strategy – create open opportunities, be precise with passes and produce results.

The game was again in a deadlock until the last 10 minutes of the second half, when Maine senior midfielder Libby Riedl broke the tie for the third time, this time putting the nail in the coffin for the Bobcats.

[media-credit id=2258 align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]One of the stars of the game was the Bobcats goalie Hannah Teicher. In her last game against Michigan State, she struggled enormously, though the score didn’t show it. She struggled with keeping her composure and commanding the team.

“The biggest thing with Hannah used to be getting her mindset ready do she was a backup or she was going in to play a game, she used to get so nervous,” Quinnipiac head coach Becca Main said. “So we’ve been working on that and it’s been great, she has done a good job this year not letting her nerves get the best of her and stepping in and understanding she’s here to do the job and I’m going to do the job.”

As the Bobcats face the defending national champion UConn Huskies next Saturday, Sept. 15, at noon, Main thinks that team has the will to give them a fight, now it’s just preparation.

“Sometimes you lose a game and you look back and are like ‘OK, we exceeded what we expected, we prepared correctly we knew what we were going to be up against we were physical,’” Main said. “We have an extra day this week, actually two days this week, to work on our preparing for the Huskies We did this on purpose. We have the entire week to prepare for the No. 1 team in the country and that’s not normal. For us, it’s preparation.”