After winning their first game of the season against Dartmouth Friday, the Bobcats defeated the Rhode Island Rams, 1-0, Sunday on sophomore midfielder Jillian Strassner’s goal.
Strassner’s lone shot in the 17th minute was the only goal in the game. Her first goal of the season came on a corner kick by freshman Aine McKeever. McKeever’s corner dropped inside the 18-yard box where Strassner was the first to recover and knock it off the crossbar and into the net.
On defense, Quinnipiac’s biggest challenge was dealing with the Rams’ leading scorer, Adrienne Ruhe Lischke, as well as midfielder Courtney Findlen. Both fired three shots each, all in the first half. Rhode Island shot 17 times among nine players but couldn’t capitalize.
“We worked hard and caused Rhode Island problems,” Quinnipiac head coach Dave Clarke said. “We limited their chances. Even though we were tired and beat up, we didn’t really allow them to get in behind us.”
Junior goalkeeper Jillian Kelley saved all seven of the Rams’ shots on goal, and earned the victory. Kelley’s counterpart, Sasha Reiber, made three saves for the Rams.
The Bobcats’ leading scorer, junior striker Furtuna Velaj, pressured Rhode Island’s defense all game, shooting four times, twice on goal. Sophomore forward Kemesha Woodfine entered the game midway through the first half and added offensively with three shots. Six Bobcats combined for 11 shots in the game.
With the win, Quinnipiac improved its overall record to 2-4 while Rhode Island remained winless at 0-7-1.
The Bobcats play at home Sunday at noon for their first in-conference game of the season against Central Connecticut State (4-5), last year’s NEC regular-season champions.
CCSU is coming off 3-1 and 3-0 wins over Hartford and Albany, respectively.
Photo credit: Anna Brundage
