Quinnipiac field hockey continued a 21-year losing streak Friday afternoon, coming up short against in-state Big East rival UConn 3-2 for its 18th straight loss to the Huskies. 

It was Quinnipiac head coach Nina Klein’s first game as head coach against her alma mater, where she won three national championships in the mid 2010’s. 

“This is a UConn team that we felt poised and ready to take on the challenge,” said Klein. “But a lot of respect to (head coach) Paul (Caddy) and Nancy (Stevens) and Chrissy (Davidson) and the entire staff.” 

The Bobcats came out fast to start the game, scoring two goals in the first quarter off the stick of graduate student midfielder Stella Tegtmeier. 

Tegtmeier’s first goal came after she carried the ball into the offensive zone off a restart and fired it past freshman goaltender Natalie Mckenna. The latter goal came off a penalty corner after sophomore forward Cameron Brower and junior defender Kate Zamagni set up Tegtmeier to hold a 2-1 lead going into the second quarter. 

“I think we started the game off good,” Tegtmeier said. “We had great energy and yeah, putting two goals on like really felt special today.” 

With converting the Bobcats’ two shots on goal today Tegtmeier moves into the team lead in points with 15. 

“Yeah, she’s been hitting her stride, especially in the last two weeks,” Klein said. “We drew out the corner for her specifically because I just had a feeling that she was going to do some exciting things today and she was fantastic.”

From the second quarter on, the game became a track meet. Both teams went back and forth until UConn found the back of the cage with three minutes left in the third quarter. 

The Huskies converted on the latter of six penalty corners in the quarter, as graduate student midfielder Belle Bressler scored off a designed passing play to tie the game at two. 

“We did a good job with the scout,” Klein said. “We just didn’t execute the defensive effort there.” 

With seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, Bobcats sophomore goaltender Cristina Torres made the most important save of the day, a sprawling stop to rob Huskies junior forward Sophia Ugo.

“(Torres is) going to continue to be an impact player for us and she’s only a sophomore,” Klein said. “And I think in my opinion, she’s playing more like a seasoned junior or senior.”

With 4:48 remaining,  graduate student defender Olivia Howard received a yellow card, putting Quinnipiac a player down for the rest of the game. The Bobcats’ defense and Torres’ 12 saves on the day pushed the game into overtime, but UConn sophomore midfielder Sol Simone scored her third goal of the season to win it for the Huskies.

Quinnipiac falls to 4-6 on the year and 2-2 in the Big East with the loss, now preparing to face Maine at home on Sunday.