By Taylor Nigrelli
Staff Writer
Going into the final weekend of the season, the lacrosse team (3-8) is still looking for its first conference win.
Despite an 0-5 Atlantic 10 record and recent elimination from playoff contention, coach Ryan Lynn said he hopes the Bonnies can pull out a win in these final two games.
“We want to get a win,” Lynn said. “No one wants to be the team that goes 0-7 in the conference. Now that the pressure of the playoffs is off, I hope we try to eliminate mistakes and get a win.”
Today, the Bonnies will take on the Richmond Spiders (8-6 overall) at home at 4 p.m. Richmond is currently second in the A-10, but Lynn said he believes his team can compete and win the game.
“It’s going to be a battle,” Lynn said. “But if we clear the ball from the defensive zone and play offense, we have a shot.”
Sunday afternoon at 1, George Washington visits St. Bonaventure for the last game of the season. Lynn said he believes the key to winning is limiting mistakes.
“They’re a solid team, but they’re a closer caliber to us than Richmond,” Lynn said. “If we don’t turn the ball over too much and don’t make too many mistakes in the defensive zone, then we have a chance to beat them.”
These games mark the final two of the seniors’ careers. According to Lynn, the seniors still have a few things they hope to accomplish.
“They’ve been rallying around each other; they don’t want to walk out without a conference win,” Lynn said. “They’re not giving up; they’re still fighting and the emotional side is starting to kick in.”
The team has nine seniors, including midfielder Daisy Timlin who is third on the team with 17 points.
“The seniors really stepped up at the end of the St. Joe’s game,” Lynn said. “But we need more production out of them the entire game if we want to win.”
Senior midfielder Danielle Drabin, the Brown and White’s leading scorer (29 points), said she also feels these last two games are important.
“I have two more lacrosse games in my entire life, and I would love nothing more to go 2-0,” Drabin said.
In these final two conference games, the Bonnies will look to bounce back from last weekend’s losses at Saint Joseph’s (17-11) Friday, Massachusetts (21-7) Sunday, and Colgate (19-8) Wednesday. Despite giving up 57 goals in these three games, Lynn said he does not put the blame entirely on the defense.
“The defense didn’t play poorly overall; we just couldn’t clear the ball out of our own end,” Lynn said. “We only had the ball for 10 minutes on offense for the entire UMass game and we committed 20-plus turnovers in both games. That’s no way to win.”
The lone bright spot of the weekend might have been the play of Danielle Drabin, who scored six goals in a losing effort against the Hawks. However, she said she doesn’t believe the scoring barrage is all to her credit.
“Things were just in my favor against St. Joe’s,” Drabin said. “They played a style of defense which left me open more than usual.”
Lynn, on the other hand, said he believes Drabin deserves some of the credit for her success.
“Her and the other seniors didn’t want St. Joe’s to walk all over us,” Lynn said. “The last four minutes of the game, she dug down and fought. She really stepped up for us.”
The team will likely need production out of more than just one player if it hopes to win one of the final two games, according to Lynn.
nigreltn11@bonaventure.edu
