Bobcats refuse to give up, fight to 11-10 victory over No. 13 Brown
February 18, 2023
In just its second game of the season, Quinnipiac men’s lacrosse has already matched its win total from the 2022 campaign, , earning a nail-biting 11-10 victory over No. 13 Brown Saturday.
The Bobcats were able to capitalize on Brown’s turnovers to defeat the Bears for just the third time in program history.
Quinnipiac started off strong, with senior attackman Jake Tellers scoring the first goal of the game. The Connecticut native was able to haul in a pass while simultaneously spinning off his defender for the score.
Still in the first quarter, senior attackman John DeLucia cut off his defender to execute a 180 degree shot that went right through Brown junior goaltender Connor Theriault for the Bobcats’ second goal of the game.
“We had to be ready to handle the adversity,” Quinnipiac head coach Mason Poli said during the ESPN+ broadcast. “We fell asleep a bit in the second quarter but the boys woke up and battled it out until the end.”
Quinnipiac had no shortage of highlight worthy plays as well.
During the first half, junior attackman Trey Gehen was able to get to fire a shot for a score just as the shot clock expired, helping the Bobcats keep pace in what was a back and forth game.
The unsung hero of the game was graduate student goaltender Nick DiMuccio, who seemed to block most shots that came his way. The Seekonk, Massachusetts, native had a whopping 21 saves, which tied a career high, as the Bears had more than double the shot attempts than the Bobcats.
Despite the Bears’ flawless man-up offense, the Bobcats were up to the challenge, capitalizing off multiple Brown mistakes to keep the game close heading into the fourth quarter.
“We can use this as a building moment and continue on,” Poli said.
Freshman attackman Justin Robbert continued to build on his spectacular start to the season, scoring again for his fifth tally of the year to help the Bobcats maintain control throughout the afternoon.
The Bobcats’ offense was more efficient than Browns, scoring 11 goals off of 39 shot attempts. Despite Brown having many opportunities to score, they could not match Quinnipiac’s production, recording 10 goals on 51 shot attempts.
The final goal of Quinnipiac’s fourth quarter offensive explosion was a meaningful one. Teller scored the game’s 11th and final goal during the closing minutes of a huge victory.
In the closing seconds, Brown made it close after a goal from junior attackman Ben Locke, but a big faceoff win from Quinnipiac senior faceoff specialist Demitri George helped ice the Bobcats’ second win of the year.
The Bobcats will travel back to Hamden to face off against the Bryant Bulldogs on Feb. 25 with the first face off set to start at 1 p.m.