Suprise leads victory over Lafayette with hat trick

Suprise leads victory over Lafayette with hat trick

By Angelique Fiske, QBSN Publishing Editor

Philip Suprise (Milwaukee, Wisc.) earned the first goal of his senior campaign and then some in the Quinnipiac men’s soccer team’s 3-1 win over the Lafayette Leopards Sunday afternoon.  Suprise notched all three Bobcat goals, and in the process boosted their record to 2-1 overall.  Lafayette drops to 1-2 with the loss.

“I was happy to see him finally get his first one, and then obviously getting two more and helping us seal the win was the icing on the cake,” head coach Eric Da Costa said of his captain’s performance.

The first of his three scores came minutes into the first half, a shot from the box that ricocheted off the left post and behind the right.  Nearly 30-minutes later, sophomore Machel Baker (Spanish Town, Jamaica) sent a ball into the box.  Suprise finished it off with a header into the net. 

His final exhibition of dominance came in the second half as Lafayette goalkeeper Nathan McDonald challenged Suprise, diving for the ball at his feet.  Surprise maneuvered around the sprawled-out keeper, stumbled, and regained enough composure to complete the hat trick.

Coming into the game, Suprise was stuck at 17 career goals – 20 after the final whistle – and eight career assists, one coming in the 2-1 victory over Holy Cross.  Da Costa believes that this type of game is necessary solely based on the nature of his field-position.

“He needed it.  As a forward you live and die and measure yourself just based on whether or not you score,” Da Costa said. “He could have had six assists today and still been upset with his performance. That’s just how forwards’ mentalities are.”

Suprise’s on-field successes were not only a result of this type of mentality but also from the presence of his family on the sidelines, particularly his father.

“I get that extra confidence around him,” Suprise said. “He always helps me out before the game with what I need to do, and I just feel more comfortable when he’s here, same with my brother.”

Alec Golini tapped the sole Lafayette goal into the right corner of the Quinnipiac net midway through the first half.  Sean Peckham earned the assist.

Despite the Milwaukee-born flood gates being opened backed by a strong performance in net by Borja Angoitia (Bilbao, Spain), the Bobcats still aim to be stronger, especially with a tough road challenge next Saturday at Loyola. 

“Every team on our schedule is difficult,” Da Costa said. “We just need to get into training this week, get a day off first, rest and relax a bit, but then get into training and start to make some more improvements for the game over the weekend.”

Even with the difficulties this season contains, the Bobcats have their focus, and they know exactly what needs to be down as the year progresses.

“We just want to get a result,” Suprise said.  “It doesn’t matter how we get it: if it’s dirty, if it’s beautiful.  We just got to get another result, another three points.”