HAMDEN — Stemming from a string of five straight Fairfield goals, Quinnipiac women’s lacrosse dropped a back-and-forth affair Saturday afternoon to the Fairfield Stags 17-13.
An early foul on freshman midfielder Lila Berkery opened the door for sophomore midfielder Anna Givens to score via a free position, starting up the scoring.
Anna ended the day with three goals from the free position, although it was her older sister and senior midfielder Julia Givens who scored next for the Bobcats.
“They’re an amazing dynamic duo,” head coach Jordan Solari said. “What they do for us in the locker room, on the field and off the field just sets them apart.”
However, the Stags had already done their damage between Bobcat strikes, scoring three straight in less than two minutes. Senior attacker Mary Henry struck first in unassisted fashion and was quickly followed by graduate student midfielder Haley Burns who capitalized on a free position.
Sophomore attacker Tessa Caputo added the third goal in the string, beginning her stellar day which ended with eight points, five coming from goals.
Senior attacker Cate Bendowski responded following Julia’s goal with her first of the day. Sophomore attacker Peyton Choma notched her second early assist on the goal.
Following a quick flurry that saw six total goals scored in just the first seven minutes of play, the Stags waited just three minutes to add their fourth. Junior attacker Kelly Haggerty powered home a great feed from freshman midfielder Lizzie Getz in front of the net to retake the lead.
Caputo followed up Haggerty with her second early goal, this time assisted by Henry as she fed Caputo a brilliant pass on the left side of the net.
Sophomore midfielder Emma Miller-Ayala answered Caputo with a strike of her own, assisted by freshman attacker Brie Provenzano.
Shortly after, Caputo put the finishing touches on her first-quarter hat trick, cashing in on a woman-down free position goal.
Miller-Ayala and Choma joined in on the mutli-point quarter trend, as Choma assisted Miller-Ayala’s second in three minutes to bring the Bobcats back within one.
Before the end of the quarter, Caputo added yet another point with her first of three assists in the game, helping Burns score her second early goal.
Julia and Bendowski quickly picked up where the first quarter ended, as Givens took a great feed from Bendowski to the net for her second goal.
Fairfield finally began to break through around the midway point of the second quarter, as Caputo recorded her fourth goal, with sophomore attacker Charlotte Loughlin adding an assist.
Loughlin added a free-position goal which was then followed up by three straight goals by graduate student attacker Kyleigh Tufano, with two coming within 45 seconds. Burns and Caputo added respective assists, with Caputo recording across the three goals.
Tufano’s goals proved to be enough for Solari to relieve starting sophomore goaltender Shannon Alden of her duties with two minutes to play in the half. She was replaced by freshman Maddie Ward in net, who made one save before the break.
“I thought a change of pace wouldn’t hurt us,” Solari said. “(Ward) ended up doing a phenomenal job…(Alden) is a phenomenal goalie and I still have full faith in (Alden).”
Anna Givens recorded a free position goal just before the half, but the Bobcats still went into the break down 12-7.
Early on in the half, Quinnipiac’s Choma took hard contact in the scoring area that resulted in a highly questionable yellow card against her, and her eventual departure from the game due to injury.
Tufano and Anna continued to exchange blows well into the third quarter, as Tufano, helped by Lizzie Getz, opened the second half scoring with her fourth of the day.
Anna then added back to back goals, one on a free position and one assisted by freshman midfielder Charlotte DeMaio, to cut the Stag lead to four.
Delmond continued to chip away at the deficit as she capitalized on Bendowski’s second assist of the game.
The two-goal deficit following the score proved to be the closest the Bobcats ever got to a comeback.
Loughlin answered for Fairfield, but her score was quickly countered by yet another Bendowski to Delmond connection, as well as a Provenzano free position goal.
Feeling a sense of urgency, Henry found Burns as the Stags once more had an answer for the surging Bobcats. This extended the lead to 15-12 entering the final frame.
The fourth quarter was far less offense-heavy, with Quinnipiac killing three straight green cards against the best man-up scoring team in the MAAC.
“The number of cards for us was still just too many,” Solari said. “We played a lot of man-down, and that kind of shifted the tide a little bit, and that was the gap we could never recover from.”
Caputo’s woman-up fifth notch of the afternoon ended the streak and served as the only goal over the first 10 minutes of the quarter.
Julia added a man-up goal with five minutes to play, but was quickly countered by Loughlin with a Henry assist, making the score 17-13.
The scoring ended there, as Fairfield put the finishing touches on a pivotal road victory to remain undefeated in MAAC play.
The Bobcats, still fighting for their playoff lives, will hit the road to face Sacred Heart April 18, wrapping up their regular season.
“I know they’re gonna be ready. I have absolute faith that they’re going to be ready,” Solari said.
