Quinnipiac Wins on Latonick's Last-Second Goal
from press release
HAMDEN, Conn. -- Team captain Katie Latonick
(Severna Park, Md.) scored the game-winning goal with five seconds
remaining in regulation to lift the Quinnipiac University women's
lacrosse team to an 8-7 victory over Northeast Conference opponent
Monmouth Thursday afternoon. Latonick's goal lifted the Bobcats
above .500 for the first time this season at 5-4 overall. The win
also improves the team's NEC mark to a perfect 4-0, while Monmouth
drops to 3-1 in league play and 5-6 overall.
"Today's game was well played by both teams. We were really
fortunate that we had a great defensive stop at the end to give us
the last possession," Head Coach Danie Caro said. "We were really
poised and patient on our final possession and Katie (Latonick)
made a big-time play to bury the game winner with five seconds
left."
Megan Brennan scored the opening goal on a free-position shot 42
seconds into the game to give Monmouth the early 1-0 lead.
Quinnipiac's Marissa Caroleo (North Babylon, N.Y.) and Chelsea
Guerrera (Wantagh, N.Y.) scored back-to-back goals in 1:07 to pout
the Bobcats back on top, 2-1.
The Hawks' Brennan and the Bobcats' Caroleo each netted one more
goal apiece in the first 10 minutes of play, before Shawn Evans of
Monmouth evened the score at 3-3. That score would hold up for the
next 17 minutes of play before Quinnipiac sophomore Devon Gibney
(Hopkinton, Mass.) received at pass from junior Lauren Matuszczak
(East Longmeadow, Mass.) at midfield and netted a goal into the top
right corner to take a 4-3 lead into the half.
Lianne Toomey's (Hicksville, N.Y.) free-position tally gave
Quinnipiac the 5-3 lead just over three minutes into the second
period. Two goals from Molly O'Brien in less than a minute evened
the score for Monmouth.
Matuszczak scored her first goal of the game with 19 minutes left
to regain the lead, 6-5. The Bobcats' defensive pressure allowed
nine and a half minutes to elapse from the clock before Evans
finally broke through with a goal to again tie the game.
O'Brien's third marker gave Monmouth their first lead of the game
since it was 1-0 in the first minute of play. Just over three
minutes later, Gibney got the equalizer on a free-position goal to
the far side, just inside the post.
Brittany Hauser's (Northport, N.Y.) taken charge on Monmouth's
Rachel Feirstein next to the Quinnipiac goal with 2:16 remaining in
the game allowed the Bobcats to hold for the final possession.
Latonick and Guerrera exchanged passes at the top left portion of
the offensive zone before Latonick took the ball behind the
Monmouth crease. Looking for an open teammate cutting to the net,
the fifth-year member of the Bobcats began to move to her right and
to the front of the goalmouth. Holding off a defender and making a
deke towards the goal, Latonick opened up a shooting lane. Her shot
found an area in the far top corner with five seconds remaining in
the game for the game-winning goal, 8-7.
Latonick and Matuszczak both finished with team highs of three
points on one goal and two assists each. Matuszczak and Gibney each
had three caused turnovers in the win, while Hauser's caused
turnover in the final minutes gave her team the opportunity to net
the winner.
Goalkeeper Lexi DeStefano (Brookfield, Conn.) continued her strong
junior season with another win, turning aside seven shots in the
game. Five of those saves came in the second half, including three
on one sequence in the final 10 minutes of the game.
"I am really proud of how well our defense played today," Caro
added. "Lexi (DeStefano) did a great job directing the defense and
we came up with big plays when we needed them."
Quinnipiac will face another tough test when perennial NEC power
Mount St. Mary's comes to the Quinnipiac Field Hockey &
Lacrosse Turf Field on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. Saturday's game also
marks Senior Day for the Bobcats who will be honoring five members
of the team for their contributions to the team over their careers.
It will also be the final day of the Friends of Jaclyn Week that
helps support children fighting pediatric brain tumors.
