HAMDEN, Conn – Over the last five matchups, Old Dominion has been a pesky opponent for Quinnipiac field hockey. The Bobcats looked to rewrite history against the No. 13 Monarchs Friday afternoon, but fell 6-1. 

The first period was all Monarchs as they kept the Bobcats on the defensive. The Monarchs jumped on the board after a penalty stroke goal scored by senior midfielder Delphine Le Jeune. Quinnipiac freshman goaltender Christina Torres  kept the deficit at one after a high bocker save off of a deflection in front by Old Dominion junior forward Marlon De Bruijne. 

The Monarchs quickly got back to work in the second period as Le Jeune scored again after a penalty corner, as the ball trickled in after playing hot potato in front of the Bobcats cage. Despite the early 2-0 hole, head coach Becca Main thought of the goals scored as improvement from last year’s contest. 

“Last year we lost with these most amazing, crazy goals we had ever seen,” Main said. “I watched today and some of those were just trickling in. For us it’s about learning to finish on the other side.”

The biggest chance of the first half for the Bobcats came when senior forward Stella Tegtmeier stole the ball and headed downfield into the offensive zone, along with senior midfielder Rachael Papernik. Tegtmeier took it herself, got through the Monarch defenders, but shot it wide.

Following the inbound, sophomore forward Emilia Massarelli joined in on the offensive pressure, firing a shot on net, but Monarchs graduate goaltender Cam MacGillivray stood tall and made a right pad save, extinguishing the Bobcats’ momentum for the remainder of the period. 

Old Dominion junior forward Jolene Ulichney found herself all alone in front of Torres, who stopped her from scoring, however, junior forward Aubrey Mytych capitalized on the juicy rebound and potted the Monarchs’ third goal. Immediately after, Old Dominion found itself in another scoring opportunity on the penalty corner.

Torres made a diving save, stopping graduate midfielder Courtney Lynch, but freshman defender Sanci Mokenboer pounced on the rebound and tallied her first of the game, pushing the lead to four as the teams headed into halftime. 

The Bobcats were on the prowl going into the second half. Massarelli found herself in the right spot at the right time as she redirected Tegtmeier’s shot past MacGillivray to put the Bobcats on the board. The Monarchs netminder didn’t see it coming,barely moving a muscle following the redirection. The tally ended Quinnipiac’s 16-period goalless streak against Old Dominion which dated back to 2018. 

Torres would make another diving stop on a penalty corner keeping the Bobcats within three, however, the Monarchs answered back later in the period after Mytych deflected one in fron for her second goal of the day. 

Torres would then be subbed out for junior goalkeeper Nina Santore. 

“I wouldn’t say we took her out because somebody wasn’t playing well or Chsitina wasn’t playing well,” Main said. “We did it because you just don’t need to have that many goals scored on you, it could mess with your head.”

Torres faced 13 shots in the game having eight of them come in the second period alone. She kept the Bobcats within reach, making many sprawling saves, but after making the initial save, she couldn’t be everywhere at once. 

“Our biggest problem today wasn’t Christina in the cage,” Main said. “We didn’t take the rebounds off of her pads. For us it’s learning Christina’s style. She makes a save that most goalkeepers wouldn’t, so that’s going to leave the ball in front and so we have to do a better job of turning and cleaning that out.”

Sophomore midfielder Frederique Zandbergen added the finishing touches for the Monarchs’ sixth tally of the game. In the final minutes, Massarelli went hunting for her second of the game and was able to dangle her way around three Monarch defenders, however the chance was stopped.. The point would’ve been moot, as there was little time left on the clock and the Bobcats down by five. 

The Bobcats will face off against Towson to finish their homestand on Sunday at noon.