By Heather Monahan
Assistant Features Editor
The women’s soccer team (8-11-1) wrapped its season up last Thursday with a 1-0 loss to Butler (12-5-4) in the Atlantic 10 tournament quarterfinals. The Bonnies ended the season tied for fifth place in the conference with Saint Joseph’s.
The fifth-seeded Bonnies conceded a goal to fourth-seeded Butler Bulldogs in the 76th minute. Redshirt senior defender Shannon Van Riper took a shot on goal with 30 seconds left which hit the cross bar and allowed the Bulldogs to take the win.
Sophomore forward Molly Curry said, despite the loss, the tournament was a very exciting experience.
“The A-10’s were extremely exciting this year, especially coming off our win streak,” Curry said. “We were all extremely ready to play from the time we arrived and couldn’t wait to step on the field.”
This is the fifth year in a row the Bonnies qualified for the A-10 tournament. Seniors Van Riper, goalkeeper Katie Kerkman, midfielder Nicole Rosso, defender Maureen Madden and goalkeeper Jennifer Andrews make up the second graduating class to have gone to qualify for the postseason tournament every year of their careers. Van Riper has been to the past five tournaments the Bonnies have advanced to.
Curry said qualifying for five consecutive tournaments says a lot about their team.
“I’m so proud to be a part of a program that has made it to the A-10’s five years in a row,” Curry said. “It really says a lot about how we are consistently a top performing team in our conference and a force to be reckoned with every year.”
She also said seeing this year’s seniors graduate is very difficult.
“They (the seniors) were amazing role models, friends and teammates to all of us,” she said. “There really is no way of replacing them. They are all one-of-a-kind type of people.”
Sophomore forward Brittany Charles finished the season with the most assists, giving the Bonnies eight throughout the twenty games she played this season. Charles also scored two goals this season.
Van Riper wled the team with five goals in twenty games. Curry and freshman forward Abby Maiello also played in all twenty games.
Curry ended the season just behind Van Riper with four goals, three of which helped the Bonnies qualify for the A-10 tournament. Curry scored the winning goal against both Xavier and UMass in double overtime and scored the equalizing goal against Rhode Island before Van Riper headed in the winning goal, sending the team to the tournament.
Curry said the final conference weekend, when they played UMass and Rhode Island at home, was her favorite part of this year’s season.
“The buzz the team had and excitement the whole weekend is something I will never forget,” Curry said. “We played so hard for one another and it was truly a once in a lifetime experience.”
Several Bonnies were recognized by the A-10 this season. Both Curry and Van Riper were named A-10 players of the week. Van Riper was named to the All-Conference First Team and Maiello was named to the All-Rookie Team.
After her whirlwind season, Curry said she learned a lot about herself and the team.
“I, as an individual, and us, as a team, can play with anyone,” Curry said. “We had a tough schedule this year and we really found out that we can play with teams no matter what as long as we keep true to our style and play for each other.”
Curry is looking forward to next year and said the team plans on improving every day.
“When spring season rolls around, we need to work on keeping our chemistry and working extremely hard to improve the little aspects of the game so it will all fall into place next fall,” Curry said.
The forward also said the team will take what the seniors taught them and use that to improve.
“We just have to take what they have taught us and the experiences they have given us,” Curry said. “We can use them to make them proud in the future because I know they will be watching us.”
