October 31, 2009

Quinnipiac University Bobcats (8-2-6, 5-1-2 NEC) at
Monmouth University Hawks (14-1-1, 6-1-1 NEC)
Sunday, November 1, 2009 - 1 p.m.
West Long Branch, N.J. - The Great Lawn

Sunday's Game
The Quinnipiac University men's soccer team plays its most anticipated game of the season Sunday in West Long Branch, N.J., against Monmouth at 1 p.m. The Hawks leaped the Bobcats with a win on Friday and a Quinnipiac loss to move into a first-place tie atop the Northeast Conference standings with 19 points. The Bobcats fell to Mount St. Mary's, 4-3, in overtime in their game on Friday night after forcing overtime on a goal in the final minute of regulation.

Scouting Monmouth
The Hawks enter the game with the Bobcats having lost just one game this season. The lone defeat came two weeks ago at Saint Francis (Pa.), 2-0. Monmouth defeated CCSU, 3-0, on Friday afternoon at The Great Lawn for their sixth conference win of the season and moved into a first-place tie with St. Francis (N.Y.) with 19 points. All three goals came in the first 36 minutes of play as the Hawks dominated the Blue Devils in the early stages of the game. Ryan Kinne leads the NEC in points with 21 on his league-leading eight goals and five assists. Goalkeeper Bryan Meredith leads the league in goals-against (0.28), while second to Quinnipiac's Freddy Hall (St. George, Bermuda) in save percentage (.897).

What Happened?
The Bobcats dropped their first NEC game of the season with a 4-3 overtime loss at Mount St. Mary's on Friday night. The Bobcats fell behind 2-0 at halftime, but fought back to tie the game twice in the second half including a goal from senior midfielder Shane Recklet (Shelton, Conn.) with 48 seconds remaining in the game.

Twice The Recklet
Recklet scored two goals for the second time in his career. The senior midfielder last scored two goals at Canisius in a game last season on Sept. 13. Friday's goals were his first and second of the 2009 season.

Twice the Pereira
After going the first seven games of the season without a point, sophomore Durval Pereira (Cheshire, Conn.) has a team-leading four assists. The second-year Bobcat assisted on the first two goals of the second half, including Recklet's first in the 52nd minute.

Something New For Soubrier
Junior defender Pierre Soubrier (Aurignac, France) found the back of the net in a new way on Friday. Soubrier scored his fourth goal of the season on a pass from Pereira inside the goal box. Two of the four goals he has this season have come from the penalty kick and the other came from a long free kick.

Nothing To Do About That One
Hall allowed four goals in a game for the first time in 25 contests. The senior goalkeeper had not allowed an opponent to score more than two goals in a game during that stretch, while leading the Bobcats to eight wins this season.

The Last Time Out
Last season, the Bobcats and Hawks played to a double-overtime scoreless tie in Hamden in the final game of the regular season. Quinnipiac has not defeated the Hawks since 2004 when they earned a 4-3 home win on Oct. 28. Monmouth leads the all-time series 6-3-1, including a 4-1 mark against the Bobcats on The Great Lawn. Both teams dropped NEC Tournament semifinal games on Monmouth's home field last season.