The Quinnipiac men’s lacrosse team (6-5 overall, 3-2 MAAC) lost against the Marist Red Foxes (6-5 overall, 4-1 MAAC) by a score of 12-8 in MAAC play in a game that came down to the wire on Saturday afternoon in Hamden.

Senior attack Mike Fletcher, and sophomore attack Jake Tomsik led the way with a combined eight points in the game for the Bobcats.

[media-credit name=”Morgan Tencza” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]“We’re definitely attack oriented,” head coach Mason Poli said. “Between Foster, Fletcher and Tomsik, that’s our strong unit. We try to get the ball in their hands, let them be our decision-makers, and penetrate the defense.”

Marist jumped out to an early lead scoring the first two goals of the game within the first six minutes of the opening quarter. Quinnipiac was quick to respond, scoring one of its own less than two minutes later from Fletcher, one of his four of the game.

In the second quarter, the two defenses locked down most of the chances for each team. Both the Bobcats and the Red Foxes scored one goal in the second quarter as the first half ended with Marist holding a 3-2 lead over Quinnipiac.

Quinnipiac freshman goalie Nick DiMuccio kept the game close for the Bobcats, stopping 11 of his 16 saves of the game in the first half.

“He’s been phenomenal,” Poli said. “He’s been a rock down there in the defensive end, comes up with some really timely saves. I think he had another 16 today, I want to say his seventh game with saves in the high teens, so we know what we’re getting every game from him down there.”

The second half was a much different story. The Bobcats came out of halftime scoring three quick goals to give the Bobcats their only lead of the day. Fletcher added his second goal of the game, and senior midfielder Matt Frost scored his two goals of the game during the run.

Marist went on a four-goal run of its own, to regain the lead. It would not give up the lead the rest of the game. The Bobcats added a goal at the end of the third quarter to bring them within one goal heading to the final quarter of action.

The Red Foxes dominated the fourth quarter, scoring five goals including a hat trick from freshman attack Jojo Pirreca. Marist scored the last four goals of the game, with redshirt sophomore goalie Jake MacGregor stopping seven shots from Quinnipiac.

[media-credit name=”Morgan Tencza” align=”alignleft” width=”300″][/media-credit]The game, already chippy, ended with a scrum that brought both benches together after a hit from Quinnipiac junior midfielder Tyler DeVito with 1:09 left in the game. DeVito received a three-minute unsportsmanlike penalty, and both teams added a one-minute unsportsmanlike penalty each, as the officials decided to let the clock run out and end the game.

A key area of the game were the faceoffs. The Bobcats started the game 1-7 on faceoffs in the first half. Although the Bobcats lead the faceoff battle 12-17 in the second half, they were unable to capitalize with good offensive possessions after the draw.

“I thought we did a nice adjustment in the first half,” Poli said. “We were 1-7 on faceoffs then we went to another guy. I think we could’ve had a couple more possessions there. We were winning a lot then turning it over early on. Near the end of the game we got a little better. Those extra possessions in a tight game near the end could’ve helped a lot.”

The Bobcats will look to bounce back on Saturday, April 20, as they take on the Monmouth Hawks (2-7 overall, 1-3 MAAC) in the MAAC regular season finale at 4 p.m. in Hamden.