RIVERDALE, NY – The Manhattan Jaspers Women's Soccer team (5-2-1, 2-1-1 Metro), anchored by a pair of goals from
Olivia McMaster and
Lauren Ahearn, improved to 4-0 inside Gaelic Park, this time taking a win against the Bobcats from Quinnipiac (5-3-1, 3-2 Metro) by a final score of 2-0 on Monday afternoon. The win also marked both the 25th win of
Molly Brunk's career as a goalkeeper, passing 2026 Manhattan Athletics Hall of Fame Inductee Kristen Skonieczny's 24. In addition, Head Coach
Brendan Lawler won his 100th game as a Jasper.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Less than one minute after the opening whistle, Quinnipiac's Morgan Cupo managed to collect a shot on target, forcing a team save from Manhattan.
- Olivia McMaster, Mary Trudeau, Lauren Ahearn, and Baileigh Johnson each fired off some chances through the first 20 minutes, but none getting to the final line of defense.
- Johnson's high shot nearly got over the head of Bobcat keeper Olivia Jarvis, but the visitor was able to make the save in the 23rd minute.
- Just shy of the 33rd minute, Arancha Antunes sent a ball in from the left side, with McMaster using her head for the finish, rolling past Jarvis to open up the game's scoring.
- Other than one more off target shot from the Blue and Gold, the two teams didn't give each other any more opportunities before the halftime horn sounded.
- Brunk recorded her first save of the day after a shot from Quinnipiac's Evelyn Keay in the 56th minute.
- Ahearn and Trudeau both chimed in with a try before the 75th minute, neither on target.
- Fresh off getting back on the pitch a minute prior, Antunes forced Jarvis to make her second save of the day in the 76th.
- In a wild sequence with a little over seven minutes to play, McMaster headed a ball high into the air, forcing Jarvis to poke it out to the right side of the box, where Ahearn was there to clean it up and give Manhattan a needed insurance goal.
- While Quinnipiac tried to pick up the pace late, it wasn't enough as the Jaspers found their second conference win of the season.
STATS AND NOTES
- Senior forward Lauren Ahearn scored her team-leading fifth goal of the season, increasing her point total to 11.
- Senior midfielder Olivia McMaster also collected her third goal of the season, tying her with teammate Scarlett Smith for second on the squad. McMaster also led the Jaspers in shots on target with two.
- Senior goalkeeper Molly Brunk recorded the 23rd shutout of her career, logging one save in addition to her 25th career win.
- Manhattan more than doubled Quinnipiac in the shots category, winning 14-5 overall with a 5-2 advantage on target.
- Head Coach Brendan Lawler is now just the fourth active head coach in the Metro Conference to reach 100 career wins at their present institution.
QUOTES FROM THE JASPERS
- Head Coach Brendan Lawler: "Coaches don't win games, players win games. When you have three shutouts in a row like we have, it's a full team effort and that's what we preach from the start. This game required a lot of guts, [Quinnpiac] is an excellent team. Arancha [Antunes] and Eryn [Primus] allowed us to open them up and helped us take advantage of what we needed to take advantage of."
- Lawler on the team's outlook going forward: "We're happy with where we're at, but no one is in the playoffs yet and no one's won a championship yet ... Nothing's guaranteed, that's for sure, keeping it one game at a time."
- Molly Brunk: "Feels amazing to do this at home and with my teammates around me. I would not have been able to do this without my defensive line, they really stepped it up today."
- Brunk on her chemistry with her teammates: "Everything's been so good, we're running through balls and been communicating with each other, and that's been a huge contributor to why we have so much success right now."
- Brunk on being a part of Lawler's 100th win: "It feels amazing, it's been a long journey with him from freshman year until now, being able to celebrate something together has been fantastic."
NEXT UP
- Lawler and the Jaspers will be back in action this weekend, on Saturday, Oct. 3, when they hit the road towards Massachusetts to take on the Warriors from Merrimack. Action is scheduled to get underway from North Andover at 12 noon, and can be streamed live on ESPN+ with a paid subscription.
Follow Manhattan Women's Soccer on Instagram and X (@JaspersWSOC).
