By Zach Waltz
Assistant Sports Editor
St. Bonaventure’s men’s soccer team will host its season opener at home today against the Buffalo Bulls at 5:30 p.m. The Bonnies tied Rochester, 1-1, in their only exhibition match. The team looks to improve upon its 5-14 record (3-6 in the Atlantic 10) from the 2012 season, 12th in the conference.
Senior midfielder James Reed said the team has worked on its problems from last season in the offseason, which will help them improve their performance.
“We’re excited to get started, that’s for sure,” said Reed, “It’s always frustrating to end a season the way we did last year. We’ve had some time to recoup and reflect on some things we could have done differently. We focused on correcting those things in the spring and are looking forward to see how we stack up this year.”
Reed said the team has specifically worked on its defense, because the offense will take care of itself.
“We’ve worked to correct some of our defensive issue and believe in our offense to take care of the scoring department,” said Reed. “Shutting down teams has become our main focus heading into the new year.”
The A-10 preseason poll was released on Aug. 21, predicting St. Bonaventure would finish 11th in the conference. Senior midfielder/forward Emmett O’Connor was selected to the preseason All-Conference Team. O’Connor returns having led the team in assists and finishing second in goals last year.
The Bonnies’ leading goal-scorer from last season, senior midfielder Brad Vanino, also returns to the team along with experienced players such as Reed, senior midfielder/forward Daniel Iannacito, senior defender Brad Beaumont and forward Kaine Moar. With almost all of the starters from last year returning, the team will have plenty of seasoned players that can contribute. The team has three freshmen, defender Bonaventure Akinlosotu, midfielder Sean Pasono and midfielder Eddie Keen this year, and a first-year walk-on, defender Alex Thomas.
Reed said the team is ready for the home opener and is gearing up for conference play, which starts in October.
“We are definitely looking forward to Friday’s game against Buffalo,” said Reed. “They’re a tough, physical opponent, and it’s always a battle for every 50-50. Other than them, we’re just looking to be prepared as possible heading into conference play.”
The team has six home games this season, featuring matchups against Buffalo, Canisius, St. Louis, UMass, VCU, and George Mason. The Brown and White will travel to four conference matchups including St. Joe’s, La Salle, Duquesne and Dayton. The Bonnies will participate in the Duquesne Invitational on Sept. 6-8 where they will face teams from the University of Incarnate Word and Howard University.
Reed said he has high hopes for the team this year, saying their experience should be able to give them an edge and get them into the playoffs.
“Each year we expect to be a postseason contender, but unfortunately, it hasn’t come together these past two seasons,” said Reed. “We’re an older team and believe we have the right set of guys to make it to Dayton this year. Once you make the playoffs, anything can happen, but for right now, we’re just focused on Buffalo on Friday. We’ll go from there.”
Waltzz12@bonaventure.edu
