By Zachary Waltz
Staff Writer
The women’s lacrosse team won its first two games against Winthrop (2-1), 15-14 and Coastal Carolina, 14-7 on the road last week. Head Coach Ryan Lynn said he is hoping to pick up two more wins this week against the Delaware State Hornets (0-3) on Sunday and the Niagara Purple Eagles (0-5) on Tuesday.
“We have Delaware State on Sunday, which is a brand-new program,” Lynn said. “We’re struggling a little bit right now, so it will be interesting to see if we can keep our composure against a team that we should be able to handle pretty well, but if we don’t show up and showcase what we’ve been working on, we could struggle.”
According to Lynn, the matchup against Niagara provides extra intensity because of the school’s proximity to each other.
“Niagara is always a pretty interesting matchup,” Lynn said. “It’s always a rivalry game for us. A lot of the girls know each other, and it always comes down to quite the battle. Right now, they’re struggling a little bit, but they’re putting up some good offense.”
Coach Lynn said the game against Winthrop ended with a last-second goal against the Eagles.
“Our first game was our first time out on a field again, so it went as expected,” Lynn said. “We had a little bit of trouble keeping the ball under control, a little bit of trouble through transition and setting up our offense and defense.”
The Bonnies began to pick up their play as the game went on. Lynn credits the last-second goal to this improvement in play.
“By the end of the game, the girls came around and quickly got the game back under our control,” Lynn said. “At the very end with about seconds left to go, we decided that we didn’t want to go into overtime, and then the girls took charge and scored that last-second goal that put us ahead by one.”
The final goal was scored by junior midfielder Erin Thomas, marking her only goal of the night. Sophomore attacker Jenna Schlagenhauf led the Bonnies with four goals, while junior midfielder Cara Callahan and freshman midfielder LeighAnn Stauffer both scored three goals. The Bonnies only failed to convert one clear, while finishing with a total of 22-23. However, no Bonnies were able to notch an assist.
Lynn said their second game against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (0-3) started off the same as the first, but the momentum eventually fell to the Bonnies’ side.
“The game had a similar start as the first game,” Lynn said. “The first half was a little shaky. We had 15 turnovers, and we were only about 50 percent on the clear.”
Things began to turn around for the Bonnies after a halftime discussion between Lynn and his team.
“At halftime, we talked and decided that’s not who we are and not what we’ve worked on up to this point. We came out the second half a completely different completely different team and definitely turned the corner. We only had four turnovers and went eight-for-eight on the clear. That definitely started to show that we’re ready, but the more and more we can get onto the field and out of the gym, the better we will be.”
