The Quinnipiac Bobcats made their presence known in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Saturday afternoon with a convincing 5-0 win over the Canisius Golden Griffins.

After entering the day hovering in the middle of the conference, the five-goal barrage nudged the Bobcats from fifth to third place in the MAAC men’s soccer standings.

This game was the Bobcats’ to lose, as they controlled possession for 64% of time played and outshot Canisius 20-11. Quinnipiac had no trouble dictating the tempo of the game and forcing the Griffs to match its quickness, as the use of graduate defender Christian Casagranda’s speed down the wing was a huge lift for the attack.

The win came with a standout performance from Quinnipiac junior defender Griffin Scaglia, who scored his first two career goals against the Griffs. Scaglia believes that the win today is essential for the team’s title hunt.

“That’s always the belief, that’s always the hope that we’re gonna come first, win the league, have home field advantage throughout,” Scaglia said. “We just gotta do our best to make sure we come away with three points every time.”

Saturday’s game featured several key contributors, as junior midfielder Simon Hillinger netted two goals and freshman forward Brage Aasen notched two assists. Quinnipiac head coach Eric Da Costa spread encouraging words about both of those players, as well as senior midfielder Romain Daniellou.

“He’s a creative player, he has the ability to make something out of nothing, the ability to penetrate on the dribble and still find the pass,” Da Costa said. “He just draws attention because of his ability on the ball.”

Hillinger’s big day sent him into a three-way tie for goals scored on the team, as he, senior forward Eamon Whelan and freshman forward Tomas Svecula have all found the back of the net four times this season.

Da Costa reaped the benefits of his deep bench, as sophomore midfielder Oriac Vila made the most of his 33 minutes on the pitch, scoring the final goal of the game in the 79th minute. Other substitutes that came on at the end of the game showed promise, such as freshman forward Jason Budhai and freshman midfielder Andrew Sullivan, who tallied an assist on Vila’s goal.

The Bobcats were coming off a tough, scoreless draw against the Niagara Purple Eagles, a game in which they thought they could have had more success. However, Saturday’s game was exactly what the Bobcats were looking for.

“It’s great for our conference to get five goals anytime, especially off our last game against Niagara,” Scaglia said. “That was very frustrating for us, so to come back today and get five goals, that’s gonna hopefully keep us moving forward.”

Da Costa praised Scaglia and reflected on his breakout performance.

“I’ve seen him grow,” Da Costa said. “He’s grown and he has confidence in himself. Griffin’s one of the hardest workers we have in the program and his commitment to the team can never be questioned. We’re really happy for him.”

Riding a three-game unbeaten streak, Quinnipiac’s next tilt is an away match against the 1-9-2 Monmouth Hawks on Wednesday, Oct. 23.