QU Women’s Soccer Falls to UMass Lowell, 3-1, in Non-Conference Finale

Monday, September 28

Cushing Field - Lowell, Mass.

7:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

5-4

Mass Lowell

3-7

Quinnipiac

UMass Lowell

QU Women’s Soccer Falls to UMass Lowell, 3-1, in Non-Conference Finale

9/28/2015 10:08:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: QU Sports Information

LOWELL, Massachusetts – In a high octane back-and-forth contest throughout, the Quinnipiac women's soccer team came up on the short end of a 3-1 decision at the hands of UMass Lowell from a raucous Cushing Field on Monday night. The Bobcats' loss in the 2015 non-conference finale drops Quinnipiac to 5-4 overall while the River Hawks improve to 3-7.

"This was the first time we looked like a young and naïve team," said Quinnipiac head coach Dave Clarke. "We were beaten up physically, beaten up mentally and conceded goals at key moments of the game but the only way we can learn is through experience."

Reigning MAAC Women's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week Jessica Jankowski (Berkeley Heights, New Jersey) continued her hot streak, accounting for the lone Bobcat goal to move her team-leading total to four tallies on the season. Natalia Grodzki (Bartlett, Illinois) faced a steady stream of pressure throughout and managed to post a season-high seven saves in the losing effort.

Faced with several River Hawk set pieces just yards outside the Bobcat defensive box early to start play, Grodzki came up with her best save of the game. The free position attempt was taken 15 yards from the net and was driven low to River Hawk forward Katelyn Vieira. Her right-footed strike was headed straight for the opposite post but Grodzki dove right in the nick of time to snag a diving save less than two minutes into play.

UMass Lowell dominated possession and chances throughout the first 45 minutes of play, finishing with a 12-3 advantage in shots. Even with the shot disadvantage, Jess Gargan's (Dublin, Ireland) attempt at the 29-minute mark certainly went down as a prime opportunity. Gargan fed the ball in on a corner kick and corralled the loose ball after the River Hawks cleared the initial trouble. Gargan's drove a shot to the far corner of the cage but UMass Lowell keeper Julia Schneider had a great read on the attempt and snagged the rocketed shot.

Coming out of the halftime intermission, the first half momentum established from UMass Lowell carried over and led to the game's first goal. UMass Lowell fed the ball up from midfield where Vieira was waiting for the ball. After taking a touch, Vieira beat the Bobcat defender in a one-on-one battle and footed a finish to the left to a diving Grodzki.

After being dominated in possession and shots for the first 50+ minutes of play, Quinnipiac finally established some momentum with the one goal deficit. The bounce back in pressure would lead to Jankowski's equalizer as Kelly Caruso (Rocky Hill, Connecticut) sent in a great ball on a corner kick chance. Sarahkate Norton (East Bridgewater, Massachusetts) rose up above the UMass Lowell defenders and flicked a header that banged off the crossbar. Jankowski then managed to find the ball in a scramble inches from the goal line and buried the equalizer to make it 1-1 with 32 minutes remaining.

Despite four shots-on-goal throughout the next 25+ minutes of play, including two from Gargan, the Bobcats could not capitalize on their chances and would eventually concede the game-winner with 5:30 remaining. Vieira again managed to find the back of the net as she was on the receiving end of a perfect centering pass from Carolyn Ragon to make it 2-1 River Hawks in the closing stages.

With the raucous home crowd fully charged with Vieira's go-ahead tally, the River Hawks shut the door on the victory with another strike from Vieira to make it 3-1 before the final whistle sounded.

Of note for the Bobcats, freshman Katrina Friedman (Syosset, New York) showed well in her first career start along the back line. In just her fourth appearance of the season, the Bobcat rookie saw all 90 minutes of action at the left back position.

Quinnipiac wraps up their 2015 non-conference slate with a 4-3 overall record, marking the first winning season for the Bobcats in non-conference action since the 2012 campaign where QU finished 4-2-1.

Monday night's contest wraps up non-conference play for the Bobcats as eight MAAC games remain in the 2015 MAAC schedule. Quinnipiac resumes conference play at home on Saturday with a matchup against Niagara at 1 PM.