HAMDEN — After being “schlacked” in a 59-0 loss to Dartmouth, Quinnipiac women’s rugby headed home for their first matchup in Hamden this season, with one goal in mind: Win.
And that’s exactly what the Bobcats did on Saturday afternoon, with a 33-14 victory over the Brown Bears.
Quinnipiac set the tone with an early solo break from freshman fullback Ava deCooper Wride, leading to an easy try in just the second minute of the match for junior front-row forward Gabrielle Appiah.
This was not just the first try of the game, but the first points by a Bobcat in the 2025 fall season.
“It was key to get those first tries,” Wride said.” Not just for the game but for the morale.”
The Bobcats maintained heavy pressure on the gas pedal, as just four minutes later, another strong solo break from sophomore center Anna Wright led to the first try for Wride this season.
Right from the kickoff, Quinnipiac controlled the pace and momentum. Long breaks and stubborn defense paved the way for the Bobcats, en route to the team’s first mark in the victory column.
A big part of that momentum was from the outside for the Bobcats. The box score doesn’t tell the full story about the importance of sophomore wing Layla Cox and how she opened up the defense.
Cox had several long breaks that set Quinnipiac up for good opportunities to strike early and often in the contest. However, Cox did light up the stat sheet with two tries of her own, in minutes 25 and 34, to give the Bobcats a 25-7 lead by halftime.
Freshman lock Carolyn Melody, who scored her first try in minute 76, believes that the team needed the early score for the youth of Quinnipiac, as new members check in for the first time as Bobcats.
“A lot of us are first-timers playing on this field,” Melody said. “So momentum right off the bat to know, like, we can do this.”
Quinnipiac held this momentum the entire match.
Head coach Becky Carlson was happy with the all-around effort the Bobcats showed, a stark contrast from last week. She went on to say that she would “rather work out the kinks in that first game. I would much rather have that. It was a lesson for all of us.”
Carlson acknowledged the poor ending to the team’s season a year ago as they started 4-0-2, but continued to drop the final three matches of the season.
For the Bobcats, the match was a large contrast to the team’s first contest, as both the offense and defense showed up. A good sign for Quinnipiac, who have a standard of winning and a goal to win this season.
The match showed tremendous growth for the team and is the first victory in a path towards another championship.
“Our identity is that we are a program that has a rich legacy of winning, and we want to bring that back,” Carlson said. They are hungry to bring that back.”
Today’s match was the first step for Quinnipiac, but Carlson preaches, “We’re going to continue to work on the things that we need to work on and pressing that in practice.”
But, a win is a win, this one being the first for the Bobcats this season as they move to 1-1-0.
Quinnipiac travels to Brookville, N.Y., to take on Long Island University on Sep. 13 at 1 p.m.
