Quinnipiac women’s lacrosse trailed early, then had a late lead, but ultimately it wasn’t enough, as Marist defeated the Bobcats 13-12 Wednesday afternoon.

The Red Foxes got off to a smoking hot start, jumping out to a 6-2 lead in the first quarter. 

Graduate student attack Kerri Gutenberger and redshirt senior attack Kelli Trotta powered the hosts’ offense, each finding the back of the net twice in the opening frame. 

The Bobcats produced just as many offensive chances as Marist, but a majority of Quinnipiac’s shot attempts flew either high or wide of the net. 

However, those shots started to connect in the second quarter. Ignited by junior attack Angelina Sparacio, a 5-2 Quinnipiac run cut the deficit to two. 

The Red Foxes responded with Trotta scoring her fourth goal of the half. But a buzzer beater from the stick of sophomore attack Mia Delmond allowed Quinnipiac to head into halftime down by one. 

Following a high-paced second quarter, goals were hard to come by in the third. The two sides locked in on the defensive end, combining to force 14 turnovers while allowing just two goals each.

Trotta continued to torment the visitors, scoring both of the Red Foxes’ tallies in the third.The Bobcats responded to each of Trotta’s goals, trailing 11-10 after three. 

Quinnipiac took control to open the fourth, scoring the first two goals to claim its first lead of the game. But Marist came right back. Gutenberger tied it with 4:06 to play, and then less than a minute later it was senior attacker Maddie Schrader who dealt the knockout punch to the Bobcats.

Schrader’s goal, her fifth of the season, put the hosts ahead for good as Quinnipiac was unable to generate a goal in the final three minutes.

The 13-12 loss drops Quinnipiac to 1-7 overall and 0-2 in the MAAC. The Bobcats will look to regroup for their first home game of conference play on March 30 when they host Mount St. Mary’s at noon.