Covering my First Championship: 2023 MAAC Soccer
- Ryan Holden
- Feb 18
- 2 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
For the second straight year, the MAAC Championship game ran through Hamden—and for Quinnipiac, it ended the same way. A 1-0 win over Fairfield secured back-to-back titles for the Bobcats on November 5, 2023.
For me, though, this game meant something different.
It was the first MAAC Championship I had ever covered. Being there on the sideline representing QBSN, in a game with that much energy and meaning, was a moment I had been building toward without even realizing it.
Quinnipiac vs. Fairfield. In-state rivals. Packed stands. You could feel the atmosphere before kickoff even started.
“The mentality of this group was that they wanted to win and retain and repeat,” Clarke said. “We never talked about anything other than that.”
And they backed it up. A 9-0-1 conference record led them right back to this moment, hosting the championship once again.
The game couldn’t have started better for Quinnipiac.
Less than a minute in, the Bobcats earned a corner, and after a scramble in the box, Courtney Chochol found the back of the net to give Quinnipiac a 1-0 lead just 30 seconds into the match. In a championship game like this, that early goal completely shifted the tone.
From that point on, what stood out most wasn’t just the lead—it was how Quinnipiac defended it.
This team didn’t just defend, they committed to it. Every run was tracked, every shot contested, and every loose ball mattered. Fairfield managed just one shot on goal in the first half, and even as they pushed more in the second, Quinnipiac never broke.
“Our backline is really solid,” Kayla Mingachos said. “We put our bodies on the line for each other.”
That showed all game. Whether it was Mingachos stepping in to block a dangerous chance early or goalkeeper Sofia Lospinoso coming off her line to punch away a threatening ball, the Bobcats handled every moment with control and confidence. Lospinoso earned her eighth shutout of the season in the biggest game of the year.
There were chances to extend the lead. In the 75th minute, Quinnipiac earned a penalty that could have sealed the game, but Chochol’s shot hit the post and stayed out, keeping Fairfield within reach.
And late in the game, with the Stags pushing for an equalizer, Quinnipiac showed exactly why they were champions.
“We’ve worked on those scenarios,” Clarke said. “How to manage the game when you’re up one-nil… I think we frustrated them.”
They stayed composed, controlled the tempo, and closed the game out.
When the final whistle blew, Quinnipiac had done it again—back-to-back MAAC Champions.
But for me, this game was more than just the result.
It was the first time covering a championship at that level. Seeing the intensity, the preparation, and the emotion that comes with a moment like that—while being there to capture it for QBSN—changed the way I look at games like this.
And even after the celebration, it was clear this team wasn’t finished.
“We’re winning at least one NCAA Tournament game,” Mingachos said. “It’s not over yet.”
After watching them up close that day, that didn’t feel like confidence—it felt like expectation.
