By Harrison Leone
Contributing Writer
The men’s soccer team (0-2) may be facing an uphill battle in the upcoming season. The Bonnies are coming off of a season which saw the team go 4-12-3, and in which they failed to record a win in Atlantic 10 games.
The A-10’s men’s soccer coach’s poll picked the Bonnies to finish 15th out of the sixteen teams in the conference.
Coach Mel Mahler, in his eighth season at Bonaventure, said that the team’s 0-7-2 record in conference play was “miserable” and “embarrassing.”
This weekend, the team will travel to James Madison University to play both James Madison and Virginia Tech in the James Madison Invitational Tournament.
Following those games, the Bonnies will travel to Hartwick College to play both Hartwick and Syracuse University in the Mayor’s Cup Invitational. Coach Mahler noted both of these games as potentially difficult matchups.
The Bonnies first home contest comes September 16th versus St. Francis (Pa.) and will open conference play Friday, October 5th at Temple.
Mahler stated the team does in fact have a “long way to go”, and hopes to build off the relative inexperience of last year’s squad. Mahler said one of the biggest obstacles facing the team this year will be notching their first win of the season, as the team has already dropped its first two contests so far this season, losing to Bowling Green by a score of 3-0 and Buffalo 2-1. The only Bonaventure goal scored so far came from junior defender Brad Beaumont.
With only two players new to the team, one freshman and one transfer, Mahler said that getting the more experienced players to implement what they learned last season would be the key to a successful season for St. Bonaventure.
The A-10 will open up the postseason to the top eight teams for the first time this season, two more than in previous years.
A-10 soccer, in general, is improving, Mahler said. He noted such programs as Charlotte, VCU, St. Louis and Xavier as among the most competitive in the conference.
St. Bonaventure was picked to finish 15th in the A 10 preseason coach’s poll after going winless last season in conference games. The Bonnies did not finish last in the conference after tieing two games.
Last season’s conference record was better, points wise, than St. Joseph’s 1-8 Atlantic 10 reord. They have a month of non conference games before A-10 play begins in October.
The team has seven players returninng for their senior season. Adam Scott, Julian Cenzi, Matt McNally, Andrew Derayeh, Abel Bautista and Redshirt seniors Reid Gan and Joshua Gonsalves.
Last season’s top eight leading scorers all return for the Bonnies, including leading scorer James Reed. Whose fivegoals were tops for the Bonnies last season.
