HAMDEN — Four days ago, Quinnipiac missed its chance to be three-time MAAC regular season champions after a 2-0 shutout by No. 1 Fairfield.
So, for the first time in three years, Quinnipiac entered the MAAC tournament as the unlikely No. 2 seed in the quarterfinals with a scrappy 1-0 win over No. 7 Iona Sunday afternoon.
But it was no easy feat.
“We just got to move the ball,” head coach Dave Clarke said. “When we move the ball, we’re better and not dribbling, especially against teams that are gonna sit in. If we let them sit in and we dribble, we’re playing right into their hands.”
The match was a 90-minute battle with no clear victor through the opening half. Just last week, the Gaels erased the Bobcats’ 10-game clean sheet streak in a 2-1 loss. Quinnipiac wasn’t about to let that happen again.
“The first 45 was a little frantic with them almost having that goal in the beginning,” junior defender Madison Alves said. “But we had most of the possession, and then we kind of went into halftime saying, ‘You know what? We got to really go on our horses here and just finish the job.’”
If anyone had the best opportunity to strike first, it was Iona. In the 20th minute, Quinnipiac graduate student goalie Sofia Lospinoso deflected a shot and left an open net, allowing Gales sophomore defender Camille Daniel to complete the tip-in.
But senior midfielder Madison Mandleur played hero, clearing the ball just before it fell beyond the goal line. After further review, the game stood at zero.
There wasn’t much to note for the remainder of the half. Quinnipiac dominated possession against a solid defensive Iona roster. It was gritty, it was choppy and tensions were sky-high — a fall classic in Hamden.
“(Clarke) kind of instilled in us to keep the emotion at a low,” Alves said. “(Iona) that’s what they bring, that’s what they ride on. So it was super important for us to keep it at a minimum and just do what we know how to do, keep our composure.”
The stalemate finally ended with a rebound from senior midfielder Aisling Spillane which came early in the second.
“We knew that one goal would set them off, or set us off and kind of kill their energy,” Spillane said. “We just said to ourselves, ‘look, get one goal and we’ll shut them up.’”
The scoreboard didn’t change again, but the number of players on the field did. With 11 minutes left in regulation, Quinnipiac gained the man advantage after Iona senior defender Myla Rodrigues was assessed a red card.
Quinnipiac didn’t exactly have a stellar ending to the regular season, going .500 through its last four. But come postseason soccer, there’s no guarantee another game is written into the schedule — and that’s the biggest motive of them all.
“After (Fairfield) we were defeated mentally but we said to ourselves, ‘the ultimate goal that we had coming into the season was to win the tournament,’” Spillane said. “And we completed step one today.”
The Bobcats host the second-lowest remaining seed Thursday in the MAAC semifinals. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m.
