By: Judaea Ingram and Kaitlyn Grady
The Quinnipiac University athletic department removed Jordan Christopher’s interim title after one season in charge. Now as the women’s lacrosse head coach, Christopher plans to lead the team back from a lackluster 2024 season.
“I am thankful to our administration for their support and belief in me to lead this program moving forward. This team is full of special people and I am excited to work with them as we continue to work towards a MAAC Championship,” Christopher said after receiving the news.
Christopher took over last season as interim head coach in January in her eighth year with the Bobcats. She was promoted to this role after previous head coach Tanya Kotowicz was allegedly fired seven weeks before the 2024 opener for playing an injured athlete during a fall tournament — a situation faced with competing internal narratives, according to an investigation by The Quinnipiac Chronicle.
As an assistant, Christoper helped the Bobcats accomplish a winning season in 2023, going 10-8. The team made the MAAC tournament and upset Canisius to make it to the conference semifinals.
She started her journey with the Bobcats as an assistant coach in 2017, a year in which the team made its first-ever MAAC tournament appearance.
Before Quinnipiac, Christopher spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Central Connecticut State.
The Bobcats are looking to improve from a 2-13 season last season, a record Christopher believes did not fully grasp the talent the team had.
“We weren’t a 2-13 team last season,” Christopher said. ”We were better than that, we just could not get on the other side of it and now we are finally learning how to get on the other side of those games.”
Under Christopher’s lead, the team has worked on fine tuning the fundamental skills, whether that is conditioning, stick work, or just their understanding of the game.
Since transitioning into the head coach spot, the Bobcats are now 2-0. Their first game against Central Connecticut State was pure domination as they won 21-2. The Bobcats won their second game against Colgate, 13-9.
“My teammates were making lanes for me. They were giving me great reads. I couldn’t have done it without them and the play calls were great,” junior attack Cate Bendowski said after having a career-high four goals against Colgate.
First year goalie Shannon Alden had 15 saves against Colgate.
“My defense was giving me such great angles, and low angles, that I was able to just get hit with the ball. Our defense played out of their mind today” Alden said.
In the first two of five straight home games to open the year, the Bobcats have protected home turf.
“It builds confidence when you get to defend your home turf, there is value in that,” Christopher said. “When you build that confidence here, you can take that on the road with you.”
This strategic scheduling aims to provide a strong start to the season and prepare the team for the competitive MAAC play.
The Bobcats have not trailed for one second this season and had the second-largest margin of victory in the program’s Division I history in their opener against CCSU.
“We got to keep the lead the whole time, that’s kind of a skill you got to learn and I am really proud of them for figuring it out and keeping the win,” Christopher said.
A lot of games last year, Christopher expressed how they weren’t ready to go on the first whistle, so they always had to climb out way back. A goal for this season is to come out fast and score quickly.
So far, this mentality has worked, as the Bobcats’ offense has started off hot. Outscoring their opponents 17-3 in the first quarter through two games.
“Some of the shots were lasers, to see it go across the line is huge for the confidence and it carries through the game,” Christopher said.
The urgency the team possessed these first two games is already an improvement from last season.
“A lot of those games last year we weren’t ready to go on the first whistle and we always had to climb our way back, so the goal is to try and be on the other side of that,” Christopher said.
Out of the 15 games the Bobcats played last season, they trailed after the first quarter in nine of them. Each of those games ended in a loss.
In the preseason, Quinnipiac was predicted to finish No. 10 in a 12-team conference. Jordan and the players used this low ranking as fuel and they are ready to show everyone what they have been working for.
“They had a fire under them after last season,” Christopher said.
This 2-0 start is a good sign for the Bobcats, but their next game will be the ultimate test. They will face No. 8 Yale on Tuesday at 2 p.m.
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