We got on the road in the morning so that we could grab lunch on the way to Quinnipiac. Coach Balaguero hooked us up with our first pregame meal of the season. It was bomb. With a full belly and our minds set on the game, we hopped back on the bus to finish our trek to take on the QPAC. Thanks to the mix from Hanson the bus was bumpin' as we rolled through Hamden, NY.
The team fought hard in the opening minutes and unsettled the possession-based style of Quinnipiac. Sophomore James Myall and senior Tim Whalen continued to disrupt and win the midfield, making it hard for the Bobcats to get anything going. Early on, chances came from freshmen Matthew Chow and senior Will Cross, who both had good shots on goal. Chances came for the Bears, but a combination of good saves from the Quinnipiac keeper and unfortunate misses left the score at halftime to be 0-0.
The second half started with both team fighting for an edge and with Quinnipiac giving up several free kick opportunities for the Bears. Then, one of the Bobcat players received a second yellow for a hard challenge just outside their box, resulting in the team going down a man for the last 25 minutes of the game. How hard Quinnipiac continued to fight despite being a man down speaks volumes toward the quality of their play. Quinnipiac had a couple corner kicks in a row, but failed to create a major chance. A couple of saves from junior Erik Hanson also kept the Bobcats from getting on the scoresheet. Despite their best effort, the Bears finally broke the deadlock through Matthew Chow and Tariq Akeel. Tariq made a good run inside the box and played the ball back toward Matthew at the PK spot who hit the ball first time into the far corner. Then shortly after, freshman Carl Johan Mix found Tariq in the box who then headed the ball into the back of the net. The second goal sealed the victory for Brown, and allowed the Bears to start the season off in the best way possible, undefeated with no goals let up.
