“He’s playing Division I soccer.”
These five simple words are true of every member of the Quinnipiac men’s soccer team. But this time last year, senior captain Alex Miller wasn’t sure if he’d be able to say that about senior goaltender Nickolas Cardona.
Yet, despite tough odds and what Miller describes as a “life-changing injury,” Cardona would make his triumphant return. His first game since November 2023 was a resounding success; Cardona was able to backstop the Bobcats to its first shutout of the season, defeating the University of New Haven in Hamden 3-0 on Tuesday afternoon.
This win was a crucial one in a season marred by disappointment for the Bobcats. After enduring a tough loss on the road at Marist, where Quinnipiac would allow three straight goals in the second half to lose its first conference game of the season, winning was once again a necessity.
The New Haven Chargers provided the last chance for Quinnipiac to gain some confidence before facing a MAAC gauntlet that will take them to the end of the season.
Despite the end result, the game didn’t begin particularly strongly for the home squad. For the majority of the first half, Quinnipiac was unable to maintain significant possession.
Instead, it was New Haven who controlled the pace of play, pressing forward. New Haven would earn three corners from its consistent attacks, as well as multiple dead ball opportunities from a myriad of Bobcat fouls, but was unable to convert on any of them.
New Haven’s best chance would instead come from a Charger throw-in. A cross-box centering pass would’ve awarded freshman forward Kauan Ribeiro the opportunity to score his first goal of the season, had his shot not rang off the right post. The rebound was quickly scooped up by Cardona.
On the other end of the pitch, Miller would not be denied his first of the season. A handball no-call in the box allowed for Miller to strike a bouncing ball past New Haven graduate student goaltender Alessandro Bizzini, granting Quinnipiac its first lead in over 200 minutes of game play.
“It’s big for me,” Miller said. “I mean, I missed a lot of games.”
Quinnipiac would double the score by half time, tallying its second score with only a second to spare. With the PA announcer counting down the final ten seconds, freshman Mateo Balbino would keep his composure, driving the ball down to the end line. The Charger backline, distracted by Balbino’s push to the net, would make the biggest blunder one can make in the beautiful game: ball-watching.
That allowed junior forward Benjamin Telle to sneak behind the distracted defenders, touching in his first of the year with not even a second to spare.
A final goal, scored in the 69th minute by sophomore forward Andrew Monteserin, would put the game away—as long as the back half could hold.
This team had rallied once around Cardona — last season’s navy tees adorned with his name and number a stark reminder of the long journey necessary for him to be in this position at all — but could they do it again?
They absolutely could.
Despite a few scary chances, the Quinnipiac defense managed to hold. A couple of timely saves by Cardona, and some good foot-work to maintain clean possession, would be the difference maker to earn the squad, as well as Cardona, its first clean sheet of the season.
“If we want to win games, we got to keep clean sheets,” Cardona said.
As simple as the mantra seems, the Quinnipiac squad recognizes that Cardona being in a position to lead this team to shutouts isn’t something they should ever take for granted.
“Cardona’s an inspiration for us,” Miller said. “Coming from that injury he had…I’m not sure a lot of people would have been able to come back from that. And not only did he come back, he’s playing Division I soccer.”
The Bobcats look to win their second straight home game this weekend, taking on Saint Peter’s on Sept. 27. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.
