WQAQ Sports names Bryan Geffen Athlete of the Week

WQAQ Sports names Bryan Geffen Athlete of the Week

HAMDEN — The WQAQ Sports Department has named men’s basketball junior Bryan Geffen as its Athlete of the Week for the week ending on November 13, 2007. This is the first time this semester Geffen has won this award.

Geffen made an instant impact in his first game for Quinnipiac scoring 19 points and accumulated 6 assists in the Bobcats 85-79 double overtime win over the University of Hartford. 

Geffen, who transferred to Quinnipiac from Boston University, becomes the first member of the Men’s Basketball team to win this award this season.

The Bobcats look to make it two in a row this Wednesday, November 14th against the Binghamton University Bearcats at 7 p.m. on the campus of Binghamton University.

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Bobcats, Bears, and Blowouts… Oh My!

Bobcats, Bears, and Blowouts… Oh My!
By: Kevin Lo and Jon Leach
November 11, 2007

HAMDEN — Many questions faced the Quinnipiac Bobcats women’s basketball team after they finished finished 16-12 last season. This season, their hopes are higher, now that Erin Kerner is back and healthy. The Bobcats have high expectations: chosen to finish third in the NEC. That ranking gives them a proverbial bulls eye on their back at home and on the road. The top two scorers from last season are returning for the Bobcats: Monique Lee (14.5 pts per game), and the previously mentioned Erin Kerner (17.7 pts per game). The Bobcats also return a mature contributing cast, including Mandy Penewell who averaged 11.7 pts per game last year.  With a healthy Kerner and another year of experience these Bobcats look to really put their stamp on the NEC. 

Today, the Bobcats hosted the Brown University Bears at the TD Banknorth Sports Center for their season opener. The Bobcats established their presence early on with a strong offense and a stifling defense. Senior forward Monique Lee led the way in the early minutes of the game on both ends, with six points and two steals in the first three minutes of the game. “I just took what the defense was trying to give me,” Lee claimed in her response to falling just shy of a double double with twelve points and nine rebounds.

The defense proved just as dominant as the offense as they held the Brown Bears to within at least eight points throughout the half. Erin Kerner played well throughout the first ten minutes of the game, shooting five of six from the floor and two of three from three, finishing with 21 points in just 18 minutes of action, before sitting out due to early foul trouble. The score was twenty to eight midway through the first half. Kerner’s offensive production was replaced by the hard work and hustle of Sarah McGowan. She proved to be a key contributor to Quinnipiac’s air tight defense throughout the first half. The Bobcats defense held Brown to only 25% shooting from the field and forced 14 turnovers throughout the first half.

The second half started out much the same with two points by Monique Lee and a three pointer by Erin Kerner, who attributed her 8-12 shooting from the floor to “long warm-ups and playing smart due to foul trouble.” The defense continued to dictate the game’s tempo with a strong defensive presence down low. During one possession the Bobcats recorded four straight offensive rebounds. The stifling defense was evident by the eight travels Brown committed and their 30% field goal percentage.  

Coach Fabbri was pleased with her defense today and was able to make adjustments on the fly in order to keep the Brown offense on their toes. “We’ve practiced with each other for so long it was good to go out and play someone other than ourselves,” Coach Fabbri claimed when asked how her team was able to come out with the intensity of ten fully loaded pistols, guns ablazing. When asked how the team could make improvements for their upcoming tournament in Maine she responded with “everything, we need to put that intensity in a bottle and bring it to every game.”

Bobcats forced to settle for tie

Bobcats forced to settle for tie
by Seth Rothman
November 10, 2007

HAMDEN — 0.2 seconds.

That’s the amount of time that stood between the Bobcats and a four point weekend.

In a game that saw Quinnipiac (3-3-2, 1-1-2 ECAC) dominate the St. Lawrence Saints (4-5-1, 1-3-1 ECAC) for most of the 65 minutes on Saturday night at the TD Banknorth Sports Center, it was St. Lawrence that came away with a heart-stopping 2-2 tie that felt like a loss for Rand Pecknold’s club after junior defenseman Shawn Fensel wristed one past Bobcats net-minder Bud Fisher with 0.2 seconds remaining in the third period.

“We were very fortunate to get a point out of this,” an exhilarated Joe Marsh said after his Saints got their point. “Our big thing was to not go down, and just match their intensity. It was a very tough, physical game. Both teams worked extremely hard. We have no disrespect for the Bobcats, they’re the real thing, and they proved it again tonight.” 

Bobcats coach Rand Pecknold saw things differently than his counterpart from Canton, N.Y.

“I’m still pretty frustrated with our team right now. I just don’t think we compete hard for 60 minutes,” Pecknold said. ”I guess I’m mostly frustrated because we have so many returning players. It’s our forwards that are just not working hard.”

“Come Monday, it’s back to work,” Bobcats junior winger David Marshall said. “You have to forget about the weekend and work on the things we did wrong. Every week is going to be a stepping stone for this team, it’s a great bunch of guys. Guys are willing to pay the price.”

It was Marshall who scored the game’s first goal, coming in on a breakaway, and roofing it past Saints goaltender Kain Tisi twenty-eight seconds into the game.

“A breakaway’s not what we’re looking for on the first shift, I can tell you that,” Marsh said. “The kid made no mistake, he just roofed that thing, it was a bullet. Probably the wrong guy to have on the breakaway.”

“Mike Atkinson made a great pass to me. I didn’t even have to slow up or anything,” Marshall said. “It was right in my wheelhouse, I got lucky, got away, and found the back of the net.”

But with under ten seconds remaining in the contest, luck ran out for the team adorned in gold jerseys.

“We got a little bit of bad luck, and that’s what happens sometimes,” Pecknold said. “The puck’s kind of bouncing around. First, we don’t get it off the wall, then the puck comes to Jean-Marc in front, he’s got a player all over him, he tries to clear it out, he whacks it, and it goes right to the St. Lawrence kid.“

“They were crashing hard, they kept us trapped us in our zone. They just got a lot of pucks on net, and were able to chip one in,” Fisher said.

“We really feel like we dodged a bullet,” Marsh said. “I was proud of how the guys hung in there against a good team with a hostile crowd. All the factors that you have going against you, it’s pretty important to handle that.”

St Lawrence’s ability to come back was of little consolation to Pecknold, who continues to be frustrated with his team.

“Being up 2-0 going into the third, I thought we needed to get our energy level back, and Saint Lawrence got a lot better,” Pecknold said. “They dominated the whole period. We had 23 shots through two periods, and we put four on in the third.”

Just because they won on Friday, and played well — at times — over the weekend, does not mean this is a team out of its slump.

“I thought we played well in spurts. We played great at times, and struggled at times.  We ran out of gas [in the third], and the guys weren’t competing hard,” Pecknold recollected. “It’s frustrating, you got a 2-0 lead, you have to come out, respect your opponent, and put them away. We didn’t do that.”

It’s not all the fault of the Bobcats. St. Lawrence came out a hungrier team in the third stanza.

“They brought a lot more urgency in the third,” Fisher said. “They crashed the net a lot, got a lot of traffic. First two periods, I didn’t have any trouble seeing the puck, then in the third there were tons of guys in front.”

“If you don’t think the Saints are feeling like they’re pretty fortunate this weekend, both games, you had that element,” Marsh said.

Now that the weekend is over, the Bobcats can look back and realize they got three points against two of the teams believed to be among the best in ECAC Hockey. 

“All in all, its tough to swallow tonight, but it was a big weekend for us,” Marshall said. ”We struggled last weekend when we got a point, but 3 out of 4 isn’t bad, and we’ll definitely take it early in the year.”

But until the Bobcats are next on the ice Saturday against Princeton, it’s back to the drawing board.

“They [the players] have to want to win,” Pecknold said. “They have to want to be good at what they do. I think deep down the kids want to do it, they just aren’t right now.”

Rejuvenated Bobcats take out Knights

Rejuvenated Bobcats take out Knights
by Seth Rothman
November 9, 2007

HAMDEN — It was a much different Quinnipiac team tonight than the one that skated off the ice at the TD Banknorth Sports Center on October 30 after an uninspiring win over American International.

This Quinnipiac team defeated #8 Clarkson (6-3-0, 3-1-0 ECAC) by a final of 3-2 in a game played in front of a record crowd of 3,444 at “The Bank” on Friday night.

It seems, at least after tonight’s game, the slump that plagued this team through its first six games might be over.

“The guys on this team are way too good for the puck to keep hitting the post,” junior winger Bryan Leitch said. “Johnny [Jean-Marc Beaudoin] got one tonight, he’s off the schnied, Bates got one, and Wonger’s [Brandon Wong] not far behind, I can guarantee you that. He’s far too talented a player to be held off the sheet this long.”

“I don’t think we had alot of jump in our step,” Clarkson coach George Roll said. “We just didn’t have the legs tonight. They were first on alot of loose pucks and won alot of battles.”

It was that hard work that enabled the Bobcats (3-3-1, 1-1-1 ECAC) to take a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. Bryan Leitch fed a streaking Jamie Bates, who used some fancy stickwork to get a shot past Leggio’s glove with 1:36 remaining in the opening stanza. For Bates, the captain of this Bobcats team, it was the first goal of the season.

“I’m just trying to get back to the basics,” Bates said. “Trying to keep working hard, finish all my checks, get as many pucks on net as I can. I did that tonight, and it seemed to work well.”

“That was phenomenal; I mean, he caught the puck basically at his ear, put it down, and shot it at the net, all in one motion,” Leitch said. “I think Leggio was more surprised than anybody he got that puck down, because he didn’t look like he was ready for the shot at all.”

“Bryan was just trying to dump it in, got lucky that it came to me, and I think I caught Leggio off guard a little bit,” Bates recollected. “The puck dropped flat on my stick. I’m just trying to get the puck on net as fast as possible. I got a quick shot off, and I think it fooled him. I’ll take it.”

He certainly will, as it gave the Bobcats the momentum in front of the raucous crowd.

“It’s so different from Northford. Northford’s a great place to play, but this is just spectacular,” Leitch said. “To see that many people out there, coming back from Cornell on Saturday, and seeing how they are, that’s where we want to be. We’re well on our way.”

“The fans were great tonight,” Bates said. “Reminds me alot of last year at the end of the season. It definitely gave us a boost.”

For Leitch, Bates, and senior Ben Nelson, tonight was a reunion they have been waiting for since the end of last year. Early this year, junior David Marshall was paired with Leitch and Nelson, but this week, Bobcats head coach Rand Pecknold switched things up, reuniting the chemistry laden line.

“We’re trying to get all three of those guys going at the same time, and be a little more consistent, which I think we will do,” Pecknold said.

For the Bobcats, it was a chance to face the foe that ended their season in March. No one, however, admitted thinking about revenge.

“We talked very little about the Championship Game,” Pecknold said. “Clarkson’s Clarkson; they’re a great hockey team.”

“That was probably the worst loss of my life, but summer’s a long time and we’re definitely ready to go this year,” Leitch said. “We’re more looking forward to this year than looking back at last year.”

“They were hungry for the win tonight, and earned it,” Roll said. “I’m sure for them, maybe there was a revenge factor. For us it was a chance to stay undefeated in the league, and we didn’t do it.”

And most of the blame for that can go to the Bobcats top line. After Bryan Rufenach took an interference penalty with just over 6 minutes left, Leitch put home his team-leading 4th goal of the season on a broken play.

“I think it hit Bates on the foot, Henny [junior defenseman Dan Henningson] got it to the net, and I just got a lucky bounce and put it behind Leggio,” Leitch said.

“I was just standing in front of the net,” Bates said. “I was trying to tip it on net, and ended up tipping it over to Bryan Leitch. When you’re playing a team like Clarkson, you’ll take all the luck you can get.”

“That winning goal, we did everything right, we got the puck to the net. Jamie Bates did his job; screening the goaltender,” Pecknold said. “We got a good bounce, but everyone did what they needed to do.”

So now, the Bobcats get a few hours to savor a win against the highest ranked opponent they’ve ever beaten in program history.

“At this point in the year, any win’s big,” Pecknold said. ”We need some momentum. Alot of our veteran players are stuggling right now with their confidence, and this’ll give them some confidence. I give my guys alot of credit.”

“If you can beat Clarkson, you can definitely beat anybody in this league,” Leitch reasoned.

But now, the focus must turn to tomorrow’s opponent: St. Lawrence. The Larries gave Princeton their first loss, and earned themselves their first ECAC Hockey win of the season.

For the Bobcats, the key will be effort.

“The key to beating St. Lawrence is outworking them,” Bates said. “That’s not an easy task. It’s going to be tough, but I think we have some good character, and we’re hungry. It’s pretty crucial for us to get four points this weekend if we want to be considered in the top of the league.”

Or as Rand Pecknold said it:

“When we’re good is when we’re hungry, and that’s how we’ll get ready to play.”

Bobcats End Disappointing Fall Season With 17th Place Finish

Bobcats End Disappointing Fall Season With 17th Place Finish
By Jeremy Schilling

The Quinnipiac University Bobcats Golf team finished their disappointing fall 2007 season with a 17th place finish October 23rd at the New England Championships at The Captains Course in Brewster, Massachusetts. A season whose mission was to regain the glory of last fall ended on a sour note, just like the spring season did.

Individually, the Bobcats were led by Ryan Reynolds and Brady Giroux, who both shot a 2-round total of 156. That left them in a tie for 39th. Ian O’Connor tied for 58th place with a 36-hole score of 158. Jason Loranger’s 167 left him in a tie for 128th and Charlie Niland shot 168 for a tie for 136th. That all adds up to a team score of 735 that left them 17th out of 42 teams.

All Head Coach John O’Connor could say about the tournament was that “overall the scores were weak.” Hopefully this Bobcats team with so much young potential will get in the practice reps they need and come back on fire for the spring season.

Season Ends Disappointingly for Women’s Soccer

Season Ends Disappointingly for Women’s Soccer
By TJ Buzzeo

The Bobcats entered the last weekend of the regular needing a couple of wins and a bunch of help from their NEC counterparts to move on to the NEC playoffs. However, standing in their way were the Sacred Heart Pioneers and the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights.

On Friday, November 2nd Quinnipiac made the short trip down to Fairfield, CT to battle the Pioneers and keep their postseason dreams alive. The Bobcats fell behind early when Sacred Heart’s Allison Rojas put a shot in the back of the net 11 minutes into the contest. After the goal, Chloe Beizer and the Bobcat defense settled down and shut out Sacred Heart the rest of the way.

Unfortunately for Quinnipiac their offensive woes continued as they were unable to score a goal for the sixth consecutive game. Amber Sidoti led the Bobcat attack with three shots and two on goal however, none of her attempts were able to get by Meghan Reichelt, the Pioneers goaltender.

The Bobcats were out shot 15-11 and were also outdone in corner kicks with the Pioneers accumulating a 5-2 advantage. Quinnipiac played a very sloppy game committing 21 fouls to just ten by Sacred Heart. The win improved the Pioneers record to 3-11-4, and 3-2-3 in the NEC and with another win on Sunday propelled them into the playoffs. The loss dropped the Bobcats out of the postseason as their record worsened to 9-6-2, and 2-4-2 in NEC play.

On Sunday, October 4th the Bobcats hoped to end their season on a high note and pick up a win to end their season. The Bobcats were in good shape after a scoreless first half against Fairleigh Dickinson. However the Knights offense exploded in the second half scoring three goals and putting the game out of reach for Quinnipiac. Michelle DeCourcey started the scoring in the 68th minute when she found the back of the net and then teammate Emma Yamada scored the winning goal in the 77th minute of the game. Quinnipiac senior Mal Curran scored the first Bobcat goal in six games in the 86th minute of the game, cutting the Knight lead to one goal. Fairleigh Dickinson scored an insurance goal in the final minute of the game when Tonya Hipsman scored.

The final game of the season ended poorly for goaltender Chloe Beizer. Beizer played great all season posting seven shutouts along the way and only gave up 14 goals in 18 games. In the final game against Fairleigh Dickinson she was pulled in the 85th minute after giving up two goals which was the most she gave up in a game all year (she has given up two goals in four games this season).

The Bobcat offense which started off the season on fire was nowhere to be found once NEC play started and was one of the bigger reasons for the Bobcats late season drought. Before NEC play the Bobcats were 7-2-0 and looked well on their way to the NEC tournament. During those nine games the Bobcats scored 22 goals an average of 2.44 goals a game. After the NEC play started the offense appeared to go into hiding scoring six goals in their final nine games (five of which came in the first two) leading to an average of .67 goals a game. They also went on a streak of six games with out scoring a single goal. They finished with a 2-5-2 record in the NEC which was good for ninth (out of ten teams).

Although the season ended on a down note the team finished with a winning record for the second straight season. Also, they have many players returning with only seven seniors leaving. So, fans could expect big things to come from the Bobcats in 2008.

Women’s Hoops Preview: Healthy Kerner Should Pay Dividends

Women’s Hoops Preview: Healthy Kerner Should Pay Dividends
By Zach Smart

For the Quinnipiac women’s basketball team, a rollercoaster 2006-2007 campaign is one they would all like to bounce from their memory banks. After being pegged as one of Northeast Conference’s premier programs (following an appearance in the conference championship in 2006), the Bobcats dropped to the middle of the pack. Self-doubt avalanched, spreading like wildfire. Despite some sublime sequences and marquee victories, it was a down year that ended with a 63-58 loss to Monmouth in the NEC quarterfinals.

A healthy Erin Kerner should help erase these memories. If anything, it should hurl the Bobcats back into the conference’s upper-tier, morphing them into a legit contender for the 2008 conference championship.

Quinnipiac was selected to finish third overall in the NEC pre-season coaches poll. Long Island, which received six first-place votes, was chosen to finish first. Robert Morris, which earned three first-place votes, was selected at second.

The return of redshirt sophomore Kathleen Neyens, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, should also pay dividends. A versatile 6-foot-1 guard, Neyens started all 30 games her freshman season, and was a key cog in the lineup. She garnered Rookie of the Week accolades after copping a double-double against Farleigh Dickinson and recording five steals during a crucial victory over Yale.

Kerner, a stud junior point guard, averaged 18 points and led the NEC in multiple offensive categories before having her season cut short with a nagging knee injury. The injury kept her sidelined for the final eight games of the season.

“I was really disappointed that I couldn’t finish the season,” recalls Kerner, who admits it was tough to watch the team from the bench—a situation she’s never been in throughout an illustrious career that started at Mercyhurst Prep in Erie, Pa.

“But they all did a really great job finishing the season.”

Kerner spent nearly her entire summer on campus, rehabbing five days a week while refining aspects of her game.

“I tried to work really hard to get back for this season,” Kerner explained. “Rehab was a little frustrating because I just wanted to be playing again, but I had to be very patient with the whole process. After six months of rehab I really hope I can come back to same the level I was at when I got hurt, and help the team win a championship.”

The Bobcats will likely have one of the more formidable backcourts in the northeast this season with Kerner, sharpshooter Mandy Pennewell, off guard Brianna Rooney, and the aforementioned Neyens.

Pennewell, perilous from beyond the arc, averaged 11.7 points last season, her campaign underscored by a 34-point eruption against Central Connecticut. Rooney, known more for her defensive prowess, registered a team-high 74 steals while dishing out 67 assists. The trio of Kerner, Pennewell, and Rooney is part of a revived 2005 recruiting class that help put the Bobcats on the map during the ’05-06 season.

Once again, the Bobcats will feature senior Monique Lee, an interior banger who averaged 15 points and eight boards to lead the Bobcats last season. Few teams on the NEC level have the personnel to counter Lee, who could emerge into a walking double-double this season.

Lee will have help from sophomore Courtney Kaminski, who turned many heads last season, averaging 10 points and five boards in significant minutes. Veteran players Hannalee Pervan and Nicole Duperron will provide stability in the front court.

Sophomore Sarah McGowan came on late last season, and the Pennsylvania native will be inserted as a sparkplug off the bench. The Bobcats should have depth with McGowan and sophomores Krystal Lazos, a small forward with a feathery jumper, and Megan Barnum, a quick-strike three-point shooter who starred at New York perennial powerhouse Our Lady of Lourdes High. All are flushed into more considerable roles as second-year players this season.

The Bobcats anticipate an immediate impact from acclaimed freshman Lailah Pratt, a McDonald’s All-American candidate at Palmyra High in South Jersey.

Pratt eclipsed 1,850 points and 1,200 rebounds during her storied four-year stay at Palmyra.

“As long as we can stay healthy, we should have a great season,” opined Kerner. “We’re kind of a veteran team with a lot of juniors and seniors, with some sophomores who got a lot of experience last year so we’re all kind of on the same page. The freshman look good so far, they’ve been pretty quick in picking up the offenses and making the adjustment to college basketball… We all have the same goal of winning a championship so we’ve really been trying to push each other in practice, (trying) to get better everyday.”