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Year in Review: Best of the Bobcats in 2011
Posted on Jan 10, 2012 by The QU Chronicle-
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Best of the Bobcats in 2011
For all sports, Quinnipiac University posted a memorable 2011 calendar year. Championships were won, records were set and there were a lot of firsts in the program.–Compiled by Matt Eisenberg, Kerry Healy and Giovanni Mio
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Women’s ice hockey reaches ECAC semifinals for the first time in program history
For the first time in program history, the women’s ice hockey team reached the ECAC semifinals after beating Princeton in the quarterfinals, but lost 4-3 to the No. 2 ranked team in the country, Cornell, March 3. The Bobcats fell to an early 2-0 deficit, but goals from Erica Uden Johansson, Brittany Lyons and Bethany Dymarczyk kept them in the game. With 10 seconds left in the game Kelley Davies fired a shot to keep the Bobcats’ dreams alive, but it was blocked, ending their season. – KH
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Justin Rutty sets NEC rebounding record
Despite the loss during the Northeast Conference semifinal game against Robert Morris March 6, Justin Rutty left his mark on the NEC and will always be remembered. Recording 10 rebounds in the game, Rutty passed Central Connecticut State’s Ron Robinson (1,022) to become the NEC’s all-time leading rebounder with 1,025 career rebounds. Rutty averaged 9.5 rebounds per game throughout his senior season. – KH
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Men’s basketball loses to Robert Morris in the NEC playoffs for the third straight year
After falling to Robert Morris in the Northeast Conference semifinals in 2009 and losing by two points in the NEC Championship in 2010, the Bobcats once again fell to the Colonials in the 2011 NEC semifinals, 64-62, March 6. Robert Morris’s Velton Jones hit the go-ahead jumper in the final seconds for the second year in a row.“The team that made the tougher plays down the stretch, mentally and physically, won,” head coach Tom Moore said. “The game was in balance the whole time and they made two big 3s, we had a couple turnovers, we couldn’t box out on a free throw, and they win.” – KH
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Women’s golf makes DI debut
Quinnipiac’s women’s golf team made its Division I debut in 2011, as the Bobcats played in the Quinnipiac Bobcat Invitational in March. In 11 tournaments and invitationals, the team’s best finish was day two of the ECAC Championships, when it finished 12th out of 14 teams. – GM
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Kyle Birdsall throws Quinnipiac’s first no-hitter
Kyle Birdsall threw the first seven-inning no-hitter in Quinnipiac baseball history, striking out a career-high 12 batters in the win. The Bobcats defeated Monmouth in the first game of the doubleheader at the Quinnipiac University Baseball Field on April 9. Birdsall lost the perfect game in the top of the sixth when he walked a Monmouth hitter on a 3-1 count and then hit a Monmouth batter with a pitch. In the top of the seventh, the first Monmouth batter flied out to right field, and Birdsall finished off the game by striking out the last two batters. – KH
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Women’s tennis wins NEC
The Quinnipiac women’s tennis team won its sixth Northeast Conference title by beating Fairleigh Dickinson, 4-3 on April 17. All six of the team’s titles have come under head coach Mike Quitko, who has been with the Bobcats since 2004. With the match tied at 3, Lisanne Steinert came back from a first-set loss to win in three sets (4-6, 6-4, 6-0), sending the Bobcats to the NCAA Tournament. – GM
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Women’s lacrosse wins NEC
Quinnipiac rolled past Mount Saint Mary’s 15-3 in the Northeast Conference championship game May 1. This is the first NEC championship the women’s lacrosse team has won. Bobcat junior midfielder Devon Gibney was named the game’s MVP, recording six goals and one assist. “I am so proud of the team and the way they performed this weekend,” head coach Danie Caro said. “They played hard, they played smart, and they played to win. As a coach I couldn’t ask for anything more.” – KH
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Jordan Paolucci sets single-season program HR record, named NEC ROY
Last season, Jordan Paolucci broke the Quinnipiac single-season home run record on May 5, helping the Bobcats get their second 30-win season in Division I history (fourth all-time). Paolucci was named the Northeast Conference Rookie of the Year, as she led the NEC with 14 home runs and 97 total bases. She had a team-high .338 batting average and 33 RBIs. She was named Rookie of the Week twice last season. – GM
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Heather Schwartzburg sets NEC single-season strikeout record; named NEC Pitcher of the Year
Junior pitcher Heather Schwartzburg broke the single-season strikeout record for the Northeast Conference and Quinnipiac, striking out a total of 296 batters. She also led the NEC in wins (22), innings pitched (232.1) and best ERA (1.42). Schwartzburg’s outstanding play earned her NEC Pitcher of the Year. She was named NEC Pitcher of the Week five times in the 2011 season. – KH
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Men’s lacrosse reaches NEC finals after double OT win
The Quinnipiac men’s lacrosse team reached the Northeast Conference finals last season after a double-overtime thriller against Robert Morris on May 6. Robert Morris had an 11-8 lead with less than three minutes left in the game before senior Jack Oppenheimer scored three straight goals, including the game-tying one as time expired in regulation. In the second overtime, senior Jay Binkowski sniped a shot from 15 yards away to clinch the victory. – GM
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Softball makes NEC final
No. 3 seed Quinnipiac took on No. 2 seed Sacred Heart in the NEC final on May 14. The game went four innings before it was suspended due to poor weather conditions. The game was scheduled to continue on May 15, but was cancelled due to heavy rain. The Bobcats ended the tournament with a record of 2-1, and a loss to Sacred Heart in the first round put them in the elimination pool. They defeated Central Connecticut State and Robert Morris before facing the Pioneers in a rematch. However, Sacred Heart finished the tournament with a 2-0 record, crowning the team as the new NEC champion. – KH
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Graciano Brito returns to QU as a coach
Graciano Brito, Quinnipiac’s all-time leading goal scorer for the men’s soccer team, returned to the Bobcats as a coach after pursuing his soccer career. Brito was named Northeast Conference Player of the Year his junior and senior years and led the Bobcats to an NEC playoff berth in 2008. Brito signed with FC New York in the new United Soccer League, but an injury and surgery ended his season. His injury led him to reunite with head coach Eric Da Costa and to become an assistant coach for the Bobcats. Brito is expected to return to FC New York for the start of next season. – KH
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Women’s rugby makes DI debut and history
Quinnipiac became the second school in the country to have a Division I women’s rugby team. The Bobcats used Alumni Field as their home turf and finished the season 3-6-1. Quinnipiac played Eastern Illinois, the only other Division I women’s rugby team, three times this season and lost every meeting. The Bobcats won their first game, 15-5, at SUNY-New Paltz and defeated Stony Brook in their home debut, 23-7. – GM
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Reid Cashman returns to QU as coach
After a great career as a player at Quinnipiac, Reid Cashman was announced as a men’s ice hockey assistant coach Oct. 19. He replaced Ben Syer, who left Quinnipiac to take the assistant job at Cornell. Cashman ranks eighth overall at Quinnipiac with 148 points, the most by a Quinnipiac defenseman. He leads the Bobcats in all-time assists with 125 and was the only Quinnipiac hockey player to be named an All-American. “This is where I graduated, I met my fiancee here, so she’s excited to be back,” Cashman said. “It really has a feeling of coming back home.” – GM
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Field hockey players set records
Seniors Megan McCreedy, Kaitlyn Notarianni and Kimberly Cunniff reached milestones and set records during the 2011 season. McCreedy now holds the record for all-time assists (26) and most assists in a single season (14). Notarianni and Cunniff became the seventh and eighth players in program history to surpass the 50-point mark. They both achieved this success in the same game, when the Bobcats beat Siena 6-1 Oct. 21. – GM
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Women’s cross country wins seventh straight NEC title
On Oct. 29, the Quinnipiac women’s cross country team won its seventh straight NEC title at Holmdel Park in Holmdel, N.J. Of the 12 teams to participate, Quinnipiac finished first with a total of 44 points. Senior Morgan Roche, who led the Bobcats, finished fifth overall with a time of 19:02.70. Junior Andrea Szarkowicz, who had a time of 19:10.80, and sophomore Brianna Faust, who timed in at 19:16.50, finished next for the Bobcats. – GM
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Furtuna Velaj caps QU career, plans on going pro
After finishing her career with 93 points, senior Furtuna Velaj plans to become a professional soccer player. “I want to take some time and see how far soccer will take me,” Velaj said. “I want to do the thing I love the most. And ever since I was little, I wanted to play professional soccer.” Velaj plans to attend a tryout to let scouts see her play. ESPN.com said that Velaj was “one of the top players to watch in 2011.” If she doesn’t get an offer from a U.S. professional team, Velaj said she plans to play either in Sweden, Germany or England. – GM
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Volleyball seniors leave marks
Seniors Kayla Lawler and Kelby Carey both reached milestones and broke several records this season. Lawler set the program assist record with 3,314 assists. She also tallied more than 150 kills and 800 digs. Carey surpassed the 1,000 dig mark in the final game of her career, recorded more than 100 blocks and ended her Quinnipiac career with 953 kills. – GM
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James Johnson sets consecutive game streak; streak snapped Nov. 11
James Johnson set the record for consecutive games played for Quinnipiac with 96 straight games. He never missed a game in his Bobcat career until his streak was snapped because of a team-imposed suspension for “disciplinary reasons,” which forced him to miss the 2011 season opener vs. Fairfield on Nov. 11. The Bobcats struggled without Johnson in the lineup and fell to Fairfield 72-60. – KH
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Kelly Babstock sets program points record
Sophomore Kelly Babstock became the Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey team’s all-time points leader Nov. 18. She recorded two goals and two assists, giving her four points against Colgate. By the end of the game, she totaled 75 career points with 38 goals and 37 assists. Babstock passed Vicky Graham, who previously held the record with 73 points. – KH
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Women’s basketball wins “biggest games” of Coach Fabbri’s career
Head coach Tricia Fabbri said her women’s basketball team victories in California in November were the “biggest games” of her head coaching career. These two successes included a last-second winner against Minnesota and another close score against St. Mary’s. In the final seconds of the Minnesota game Nov. 25, freshman Jasmine Martin scored the last basket to win the game 64-62. In their 69-67 win against St. Mary’s Nov. 26, the Bobcats forced 12 steals and 20 turnovers. The team won nine out of 10 games to end the 2011 calendar year. – GM
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Felicia Barron sets program single-game steals record
After moving from point guard to shooting guard this season, Felicia Barron set the program’s single-game steals record Dec. 3 against Bryant. Barron recorded 12 of the team’s 20 steals in the game. It wasn’t a fluke either, as she currently leads the nation with 6.1 steals per game. She’s also been scoring, averaging nearly 14 points per game in the team’s five-game win streak. – GM
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