HAMDEN, Conn. - For the second time in the postseason, the Quinnipiac men's lacrosse team used a quick third-quarter spurt to break open a close game, as the Bobcats earned a 14-9 win over No. 19 Hartford in the Preliminary Round of the NCAA Division I Tournament on Wednesday afternoon at QU Lacrosse Turf Complex.
Also for the second time in the postseason, freshman midfielder
Foster Cuomo (Oakville, Ontario) scored a career-high four goals and junior goalkeeper
Jack Brust (Baltimore, Md.) had 18 saves, one off his career high, for the Bobcats, who improve to 12-3 on the year with their ninth straight win. Quinnipiac, which was playing its first NCAA game in program history, will now advance to the NCAA Round of 16, where it will play top-seeded Maryland on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. in a game televised on ESPNU. Hartford ends its season at 11-7 with the loss.
Cuomo had 11 goals in the regular season, but now has 10 in three postseason games, including four goals in the MAAC Semifinals against Canisius and two in the MAAC Finals against Marist. Cuomo had three of his four goals against Hartford in the third quarter as the Bobcats stretched a 6-3 halftime lead up to 12-6 heading into the fourth. Brust had 18 saves in the MAAC Semifinal win, had 13 in the championship game, and had 18 again in the Hartford win, giving him 49 saves (and 25 goals allowed) in the three wins.
In the MAAC Championship game against Marist, Quinnipiac was in a tight 8-6 contest at the half before scoring three goals in the first four minutes of the second half (two in the first 20 seconds) to take an 11-6 lead before going on to win 13-9. Almost the same thing happened against Hartford, as the Bobcats held a narrow 6-3 lead at the break, but quickly built it up to 9-3 with three goals 1:33 apart
Cuomo started the run when he scored an unassisted goal just 1:17 into the second half. After winning the faceoff, the Bobcats were able to convert again just 31 seconds later when sophomore midfielder
Ryan Corcoran (Stratford, Conn.) scored on a feed from senior attack
Ryan Keenan (Oshawa, Ontario). At the 12:10 mark, Cuomo completed the three-goal barrage when he scored off a feed from Keenan to give the Bobcats their largest lead at the time at 9-3.
Hartford bounced back with two quick goals to stem the tide and make it 9-5, but the Bobcats responded with their second 3-0 run of the quarter. Junior midfielder
Kevin Diehl (Towson, Md.) converted into an empty net as Hartford tried to press the Bobcats on a clear attempt, scoring off a pass from sophomore long-stick midfielder
Adam Bellamy (St. Catherines, Ontario). Cuomo added his third goal of the quarter when he broke down the middle at the 8:30 mark, and junior attack
Drew D'Antonio (Norwalk, Conn.) gave the Bobcats a 12-5 edge when he scored with 5:33 left off a feed from senior midfielder
Connor Meth (Basking Ridge, N.J.).
After Hartford closed it to 12-6 at the end of the third, Bellamy scored his first goal of the season just 27 seconds into the fourth quarter when he picked up a ground ball and ducked between two Hartford defenders. Hartford scored the next two goals to close to 13-8, but sophomore attack
Brian Feldman (Canandaigua, N.Y.) scored in transition off a D'Antonio feed with 5:51 left to effectively seal it.
Six different players scored for Quinnipiac in the first half as the Bobcats build their 6-3 lead. Hartford scored first to take their only lead of the game at 1-0, but Meth started a 4-0 run with a goal when he circled around the cage, the same route that he took to score the game-winning goal in overtime the first time the two teams played back on March 12. D'Antonio gave the Bobcats a lead they would never relinquish off a pass from Diehl, and Cuomo and sophomore midfielder
Anthony Carchietta (Syosset, N.Y.) added first quarter goals. Keenan and Feldman scored the Quinnipiac goals in the second quarter after Hartford closed to 4-3.
D'Antonio and Feldman each finished with two goals for Quinnipiac, while Keenan had a goal and a season-high three assists and Meth had a goal and two assists. Justin Huggins led Hartford with three goals, while Jaedon Henderson had two goals and two assists, Bellamy had a goal and an assist for the first three points of the season, while also adding a team-high five ground balls.
Quinnipiac will face a tough task against the No. 1 seed in the tournament when it meets up with Maryland on Sunday in a game that will be televised on ESPNU beginning at 12:30 p.m. The Bobcats have faced two seeded teams already this season, falling to No. 5 Brown on Feb. 20 and No. 6 Marquette on March 17.