After missing the postseason with a 1-8 conference record during the 2023 campaign, Quinnipiac women’s lacrosse made its return to the MAAC Tournament, beating Sacred Heart in the opening round 16-11.
Both teams entered the matchup with the same conference record, 4-4, with Sacred Heart given the No. 6 seed, while Quinnipiac was given the No. 7 seed. The two MAAC rivals faced off earlier in the season, with the Pioneers walking away with a 14-11 win on the Bobcats’ Senior Day.
“We came for revenge,” junior attacker Mia Delmond said to ESPN+.
For the opening half of the first, the Bobcats and Pioneers played a very back-and-forth game.
Sacred Heart scored, then Quinnipiac, then Sacred Heart, then Quinnipiac.
Sacred Heart struck first with a 1-0 lead over the Bobcats, before Delmond netted the first goal of the game for the Bobcats with a feed from senior attacker Abby Wise to beat Pioneers’ senior goaltender Lisa Martin on her right side.
However, Quinnipiac found the momentum needed to give itself its first lead of the game, scoring two goals back to back from Wise and junior attacker Cate Bendowski.
And Quinnipiac capitalized on this momentum.
Despite the Pioneers’ six-man-up opportunities, the Bobcats played lockdown defense, preventing a Pioneer lead and generating more offensive opportunities.
Quinnipiac went into the second quarter strong, going on a four-goal streak to put itself ahead of Sacred Heart 9-6, before a defensively strong third quarter only allowed the Pioneers to score one goal.
Freshman goaltender Shannon Alden stood tall in the net for the Bobcats, making five saves in all 60 minutes of action.
From that point on, the Pioneers were unable to dig themselves out of that deficit, while Quinnipiac continued to ride its wave of energy.
“We wanted to put our foot on the gas and just never look back,” head coach Jordan Christopher said to ESPN+. “We have been in that position before already, with them, we didn’t want to give them any oxygen for the second half, so we came out, executed our game plan and played to win.”
The Bobcats went on two more back-to-back goal streaks, ending the game with three straight goals to secure the victory.
On the field, the upperclassmen stepped it up for their first time all 60 minutes of play, being back in the MAAC Tournament since 2023.
“They followed through on our game plan and they played full heart for sixty minutes,” Christopher said to ESPN+.
Delmond put on an offensive show for the Bobcats, finishing with five goals and one assist.
“This one in particular [Mia Delmond] gave us that fight right away, and I think it just carried over to everyone,” Christopher said to ESPN+.
Wise also had a strong offensive showing for Quinnipiac with three goals and two assists.
Quinnipiac will face off against No. 3 Siena in the MAAC Second Round in Loudonville, NY. Faceoff is set for noon.
