HAMDEN — Quinnipiac men’s soccer has spent the majority of the season needing a win.

From the start of the 2025 season, the road to the MAAC playoffs has been one defined by resilience. 

A tough two and four start in conference play to start the season has made every point for this Bobcat squad crucial. 

Saturday afternoon’s bout against the Siena Saints was a microcosm of how the Bobcats will need to proceed in order to push themselves into a playoff berth. Hard work and defensive-minded play is at the forefront of that. 

However, a mindset doesn’t change reality — Siena is a top team in the conference, and if this team wants any chance of making the post-season, a win, especially one at home, is crucial. 

No team exhibits the “comforts of home” mentality quite like the Quinnipiac Bobcats. The squad has maintained an over .500 win percentage at home all season, yet still remains winless on the road.  

“We’ve been struggling with away games, and that’s where we have to fight. But at home, we always play much better,” senior defenseman Joao Pinto said. 

From the start, Pinto’s assessment was right. Quinnipiac was playing much stronger in its return to Hamden. Although offensive output was limited at the start of the contest, steady ball movement and a cohesive defensive effort from each of the 11 players on the pitch maintained a nil-nil score for the entirety of the first half. 

“Our defensive unit was not only the backline, but the entire team,” head coach Eric DaCosta said. “It’s a mentality that we’ve been working on.”

That hard work paid off. Ball possession heavily favored the Siena side in the first, but Quinnipiac held the Saints scoreless on just four shots. Graduate student goaltender Matthew Pisani, who started his third straight game, remained sharp in the chances he did face. 

“You want your keeper to make the saves when he has to,” DaCosta said. “He wasn’t called upon too much, but when he was, he was prepared, and he did his job.”

That’s what this game boiled down to. Each and every player on this team shows resilience and doing their job. Pisani and the defensive core did theirs in the first to put the Bobcats in a position to score points. 

Now it was up to the offensive unit to do theirs. 

And what member of the Bobcat squad better exhibits the tenacity and resilience that a team like this requires in such a tight playoff race than senior midfielder Alex Miller? 

Miller, whose injury struggles have kept him off the field for part of the season, has fought hard to return to the field.

“What he’s been through this year…could’ve broken most people,” DaCosta said. 

In the 52nd minute Miller’s resilience would show on the score sheet. Off a pass by junior midfielder Francisco Ferreira, Miller would find the back of the net in triumphant fashion. 

The strike would remain the lone goal of the match and would boost the Bobcats from No.12 in the MAAC to No. 8. It would also throw the squad right back into playoff contention. At the time of publication, Quinnipiac is one point out of a playoff spot. 

But playoffs are made by performing on the field, not fretting about the standings off it. 

“We try not to look at the standings…because it’s going to come down to the last weekend anyway for everyone,” DaCosta said. 

Quinnipiac will hit the road again on Oct. 29 to take on Fairfield University. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.