HAMDEN — A tale of two halves. And then some extra.
Quinnipiac men’s lacrosse ended its regular season with a 10-9 home loss at the hands of the visiting Manhattan Jaspers Wednesday in double overtime fashion.
In his final collegiate game, senior midfielder Liam Peabody proved to be the hero for the Jaspers, firing home a shot from the far right side of the field midway through the second overtime period to clinch the victory.
However, another unsung hero deserved his own verse. Manhattan freshman attacker Nick Henry’s third goal of the afternoon, coming with just two seconds to play in regulation, forced overtime following a hectic defensive stand.
“I think a lot of our success comes from our ability to make good decisions. I think some of our decision-making today was counterintuitive to that,” Quinnipiac head coach Mason Poli said.
With time ticking away, Quinnipiac only had to keep possession with completed passes around the net, draining what remained of a waning game clock.
After a misplayed ball, redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Ryan Beller found Henry at midfield with four seconds to play, and Henry sprinted forward to finish the job.
Henry and Peabody’s goals completely shifted the tide of a Bobcat-dominated second half, as Quinnipiac, which trailed 7-3 at the halftime break, strung together six straight goals to take a 9-7 lead into the fourth quarter.
“I thought the boys bounced back in the second half,” Poli said. “But unfortunately we went down by too much in the first half.”
Attackers junior Cole Marsala and freshman Duncan Zielke were the stars of the scoring run, with Marsala’s first goal 38 seconds into the second half starting the run, and Zielke’s second goal capping it off two minutes into the fourth quarter.
Marsala added two assists between he and Zielke’s goals, as Zielke notched a second score in the dying seconds of the third quarter.
Junior midfielder Johnny Karafa also added an odd goal, helped by a rarely seen penalty against Beller, which forced the Jaspers to leave the net free of its usual starter.
Redshirt junior and backup goalie Ethan Barlag entered the game in Beller’s favor, but saw the first shot he faced go into the net from the stick of Karafa.
Junior attacker Nate Watson’s goal with less than three minutes to play in the third quarter marked his 37th of the season and pushed him into a tie for the seventh most goals in a single season in program history.
Another bright spot for the Bobcats was senior goalkeeper Evan Miner, who spent more time in net in the loss than he ever had before in his career. Miner also came up one save short of tying his career high for a single game at 18, which was set last month in a loss against the Providence Friars.
Even with the bright spots, Beller and the Manhattan defense shut down the Bobcats’ high-flying offense over the final 20 minutes, not allowing a single goal and adding three of their own for the comeback victory.
The loss sealed the Bobcats’ fate as the No. 5 seed in the upcoming MAAC Tournament and sent them packing for a road trip to North Andover, Mass., for their first-round matchup.
This first-round matchup will take place on Sunday, April 26, with the opening faceoff set for 12 p.m.