By Harrison Leone
Contributing Writer
The men’s soccer team continues its difficult stretch of games as the season progresses. This Friday, the Bonnies will travel to Oneonta to participate in the Mayor’s Cup Invitational Tournament where they will face Hartwick (0-1-2) and Syracuse (3-1-0).
St. Bonaventure is 0-1 lifetime against Hartwick, falling 3-1 to the Hawks in 1999. The Hawks compete in the Empire Eight Conference. The Bonnies face Hartwick Friday at 5:30 p.m. and Syracuse Sunday at noon.
“Syracuse is a good team and so is Hartwick,” junior forward and former A-10 honorable mention Emmett O’Connor said. “Hopefully we can get some goals. We’ve been struggling to score.”
Following the Mayor’s Cup, the Brown and White host St. Francis University on Sunday, Sep 16 at one o clock. St. Francis is 1-0-1 this seasoN after defeating Cincinnati. This game is the Bonnies’ home opener. Atlantic-10 Conference play for St. Bonaventure will begin on Oct 5 against Temple University.
This past weekend, the Bonnies traveled to James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia to compete in the James Madison Invitational Tournament. The Bonnies dropped both contests there, losing to James Madison 6-1 and Virginia Tech 4-0.
The Dukes jumped out to an early lead, with Senior Paul Wyatt scoring in the fourth minute of play. Wyatt scored again just after the half.
The Bonnies’ scored their only goal after the game became more of a glorified scrimmage between the sides when Senior Adam Scott scored on an unassisted shot in the seventy second minute with Bonaventure already behind 6-0.
“It wasn’t too good” said O’Connor.
He did, however, see improvement against Virginia Tech, who moved to 3-1-0 on the season after beating the Bonnies.
“We were dominating up until the red card,” O’Connor said, referring to the red card issued against Junior Kolby Banker.
The first half ended with the game locked in a 0-0 tie, but things quickly went south for the Bonnies after Virginia Tech freshman Daniel Lauretano broke the stalemate in the 58th minute.
“Once they got the one, I guess the flood gates just opened,” said O’Connor.
By the seventieth minute of play, the Hokies had jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and would tack on an insurance goal in the eightieth minute.
Virginia Tech finished last season with a 4-13-2 overall record, including a victory against then-top ranked North Carolina in double overtime.
O’Connor praised the team’s resilience against their ACC opponent.
“For the rest of the first half, we were the better team, even with ten men,” O’Connor said. “I think that shows what kind of team we are.”
leonehj11@bonaventure.edu
