Lacrosse loses first NEC game on senior day
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Fairfield’s experience too much for Quinnipiac
By Giovanni Mio, QBSN Staff Writer
Five different Bobcats scored but Quinnipiac (3-8, 2-1 NEC) still lost its first conference game of the season to #19 Bryant (11-2, 3-0 NEC) 9-5 Saturday on senior day.
“I give our guys credit,” said head coach Eric Fekete. “On a day like this, our defense got tired, and we made some bad choice shots. I think we got desperate when we had possessions.”
The story of the game was the Bulldog defense. The Bobcats were unable to shoot all game, limited to 23 shots, 10 of which were last ditch heaves in the final minutes. Bryant goalie Jameson Love had six saves, while Quinnipiac’s Dylan Torey (Darien, Conn.) saved eight.
“One of the problems you have with a young team is the philosophical parts of the game,” Fekete said. “Sometimes, young guys get a little impatient when they feel like they’re getting choked out of offense, and Bryant held the ball a lot.”
Bryant also outplayed Quinnipiac during the faceoffs, winning 12 of the 18 overall. The Bulldogs managed to get 39 shots off.
“A lot of guys have a faceoff get off guy,” said Fekete. “Unfortunately, Dylan [Webster] does double duty for us since he’s a great attacker and a finisher, as well as facing off. During games like this, it has its disadvantages.”
Quinnipiac, who just played its last home game of the regular season, will play its next conference matchup at Robert Morris on April 21 at 2 p.m.
“They can definitely score, and we’re going to have to give a better scoring effort next game,” said Fekete.
Junior attacker Brendan Wilbur (Hingham, Mass.) scored the first goal of the game one and a half minutes in. Bryant then scored five unanswered to give it a 5-1 lead. Quinnipiac then scored three unanswered goals and trailed 5-4 at the start of the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs scored four straight in the fourth to give them a 9-4 and seal a win.
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Late Binkowski goal gives Bobcats first win
By Giovanni Mio, QBSN Staff Writer
A last-minute goal from junior Jay Binkowski (Bethany, Conn.) broke an 11-11 tie that led to the Bobcats winning their first game of the season 12-11 over Binghamton Saturday afternoon.
“We knew we had limited time but we wanted to make sure we got a good shot,” said Binkowski. “We didn’t want to settle for just anything.”
The goal was one of three Quinnipiac goals scored in the final minute of play. Sophomore Brandon Kuring (New Milford, Conn.) and freshman Pat Corcoran (Stratford, Conn.) scored the other two.
Quinnipiac was also without junior captain Basil Kostaras (Southlake, Texas). Kostaras currently holds an 11-point game streak.
“Not having Basil was a big downfall for us,” said Binkowski. “It put more pressure on the older guys.”
The Bobcats will travel to play their first conference game of the season against Mount St. Mary’s Mar. 31 at 1 p.m.
“The guys worked really hard today and it was nice to have a full week to get ready,” said head coach Eric Fekete. “I’m really proud of them.”
Most of the offense in the game came from the first half. Three of Quinnipiac’s 12 goals came in the first five minutes of the game. The Bobcats went into the half with a 9-7 lead.
Binghamton scored three straight goals to start off the second half only for Quinnipiac to score three out of the next four, including the Binkowski game-winner.
Bobcat freshman Michael Sagl (West Islip, N.Y.) scored four times, all in the first half. Binkowski scored three goals.
“The hardest part of young guys is either you control the game or the game controls you,” said Fekete. “It was probably the most complete fourth quarter effort all year.”
Bearcats sophomore Michael Antinozzi scored two goals in the game, giving him 25 on the season. His 25 goals are second in the nation.
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Fairfield’s experience too much for Quinnipiac
By Marty Joseph, QBSN Staff Writer
The Quinnipiac men’s lacrosse team fell to Fairfield University, 9-6 at the Quinnipiac Lacrosse Turf Field in Hamden, Conn Wednesday afternoon.
Sophomore Dylan Webster (Brampton, Ont.) led the offense for the Bobcats (0-3) with four goals, and Brandon Kuring (New Milford, Conn.) had three assists. Michael Sagl (West Islip, N.Y.) had a goal and an assist, while Basil Kostaras (Southlake, Texas) and Matt Diehl (Towson, Md.) had a goal and an assist respectively.
The Stags (5-0) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first quarter with goals by Drew Federico and Eric Warden in the opening five minutes of play. Colin McLinden assisted on Federico’s goal, as Warden scored unassisted.
The Bobcats played tough and refused to quit all afternoon against the No. 17 team in the nation. Webster was set up by Sagl with two minutes and 37-seconds remaining in the first quarter to cut the deficit in half for the Bobcats.
Webster added his second of the game to tie the game early in the second quarter before John Snellman single-handedly took over the game. Snellman scored a natural hat trick for the Stags in just a minute and 25-seconds to put the Stags up for good at 5-2. The hat trick was Snellman’s fourth of the season and third in as many games.
Sam Snow stretched the lead for Fairfield to 6-2 in the early stages of the second half. Webster netted his hat trick goal just over six minutes later off a pass from Diehl to cut the deficit to three.
Fairfield scored the next two goals of the game to end the third and open the fourth quarters, which took the wind out of the sails of the Bobcats. Federico’s assist on Brent Adams goal to make it 7-3, capped off his team leading four point performance on the afternoon.
The teams traded back to back-to-back goals in three consecutive possessions with just under five minutes remaining. Kostaras added his fifth goal of the season to make it 8-4.
The goal stretched Kostaras’s goal scoring streak to eight games. Reed Marko was rewarded with a goal after a strong defensive game on the afternoon just 23-seconds later to put the Stags back up by five. Webster capped off his afternoon with his fourth goal just 17-seconds after that to make it 9-5.
Sagl beat Fairfield goaltender Charlie Cipriano with 54-seconds remaining in the game to make it 9-6, where the game would end.
Cipriano improved to 5-0 on the season with 14 saves on the afternoon as Dylan Torey (Darien, Conn.) had his best game in his young career by keeping the Bobcats in the game from start to finish, stopping 17 shots in a losing effort.
“I thought we did a good job today,” head Coach Eric Fekete said. “We tried to focus our energy in the right direction, and as we cut the mistakes out and get more experienced and more mature I think it gets better and better. The team’s getting better everyday and I couldn’t ask for anything more because the team’s working really hard, and when you have young guys it’s a developmental process.”
The Bobcats take the field Saturday when they host the Detroit Mercy at the Quinnipiac Lacrosse Turf Field at 1 p.m.
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Men’s lacrosse drops home opener to Brown
By Angelique Fiske, QBSN Publishing Editor
In spite of a three-goal effort by junior Basil Kostaras (Southlake, Texas), the Quinnipiac men’s lacrosse team could not shut down Brown’s offensive attack, falling 12-7 in its home opener.
The Bobcats took only a few minutes to get their five starting freshman acclimated to NEC play before striking down with a Kostaras goal in the first frame.
The Bears countered the quick tempo with a breakaway goal just over a minute later. Junior Alex Jones darted down the field to no opposition, tying the score 1-1.
With an offensive fire lit underneath him, Kostaras ripped two more goals in the first to give the Bobcats their final lead of the game. The opening frame ended with Quinnipiac up 3-2.
The flip then switched and the second quarter belonged to Brown. The Bears notched six goals by freshman goalkeeper Dylan Torey (Darien, Conn.) compared to Quinnipiac’s lone score by junior Brendan Wilbur (Hingham, Mass.).
“We’ve been talking a lot about the fact that either we control the game or the game controls us,” said Quinnipiac head coach Eric Fekete. “I think we controlled the game in the first quarter, and I think that in the second quarter the game kind of got a hold on us.”
Brown managed to take command of the by tying, taking the lead and furthering it to a 5-3 hold in a single minute of action.
Quinnipiac’s lone goal of the second arrived with less than 40-seconds to play. Wilbur landed his second on the day as he fell to the ground, getting the ball in to the right side of the net. Kostaras earned the assist.
While the Bobcats intended to ride the momentum from the much needed score, the Bears planned otherwise, answering the rallying goal with 10.9-seconds left before the conclusion of the half.
The low-scoring second half put the final touches on the Bobcat defeat. Quinnipiac got three by Will Round, while Brown did just one better with four.
Quinnipiac combined for a total of 10 shots in the second half of play, a number that equaled the quantity of the second quarter alone. The shots the Bobcats made in the latter half of the game, according to Fekete, came out of panic.
“I think we got a little desperate, feeling like we needed to score again right away,” Fekete said.
The Bobcats look ahead as they next face Air Force on March 3, knowing what adjustments need to be made.
“We’ve got to create defensive advantages into to offensive advantages,” Fekete said.
While the team welcomes 25 newcomers, including 23 freshmen, the Bobcats need to prove that they are mature and competitive enough to replicate their second place finish last year as they head into the rest of their season.
