HAMDEN, Conn – Today was certainly not the day for the Quinnipiac women’s lacrosse team, as the Bobcats suffered their first loss of the season 13-6 to LIU Saturday afternoon. 

Whether it was costly offensive turnovers or a lack of interior defensive pressure, the Bobcats took a massive step back from their win over Sacred Heart just three days prior.

It was bad from the beginning, as 47 seconds in, LIU freshman midfielder Julia Trainor helped get the Sharks off to a hot start, scoring her third goal of the season for an early 1-0 lead. Junior midfielder Olivia Fantigrossi and freshman attack Mary Kate Person also added early scores to push the lead to three. 

Following goals from graduate student attack Leah Nonnenmann and Fantigrossi, the Sharks ended the first quarter with a dominant five-goal lead.

Quinnipiac started the second quarter well and it seemed like a switch was flipped, as senior midfielder Emily Feeney scored a free-position goal to get the hosts on the board for the first time all afternoon. However, LIU was able to respond with three goals total from senior attacks Lluna Katz and Hannah Kenneally.

After a yellow card was issued to Person, the Bobcats had the man-advantage for two minutes, but were unsuccessful in their scoring attempts, though a shot from sophomore midfielder EllaGrace Delmond rang off the crossbar.

The second half was a continued scoring assault from the visiting Sharks, as Nonnenmann scored her second on a breakaway chance that was set up from a long pass by junior goaltender Lily Bilello. The third quarter moved along quickly, thanks to LIU’s ability to drain the 90-second shot clock to the final seconds on almost every offensive possession. 

A third Katz goal ended the quarter for the hat trick and her ninth goal of the year, tied for eighth in the nation. Freshman midfielder Erin Harkins tacked on her first collegiate goal and that was the end of the day for Quinnipiac senior goaltender Kat Henselder.

Sophomore Lindsay Mazzucco made her season debut after Quinnipiac head coach Tanya Kotowicz made a goaltending change, but it just led to more of the same. Trainor went top-shelf on the 5-foot-2-inch Mazzucco and junior midfielder Rachel Weber followed suit as the Sharks repeatedly added onto their huge lead. 

Delmond, along with graduate student midfielders Sophie Spencer (three goals) and Maddie Deegan were able to end Quinnipiac’s drought halfway through the final quarter, combining for five late goals. However, the LIU advantage was insurmountable, as the Sharks swam out of Hamden with the 13-6, their first victory of the 2023 season.

After a passionate speech by Deegan on the field followed by an over 30-minute-long locker room conversation between Kotowicz and her team, no members of the Bobcats were made available to the media. 

Quinnipiac will look to wash the slate clean from today as it welcomes No. 22 Yale on Wednesday. The battle between two in-state rivals is scheduled for 3 p.m.