By Heather Monahan
Features Editor
Coming off a 3-1 win against UMass-Lowell (0-7-0) at home last Friday, the women’s soccer team (2-5-1) kicks off its Atlantic 10 schedule off on the road tonight against St. Louis (1-8-1).
Forward Abby Maiello said the Bonnies are excited to start their conference slate against the Billikens, especially since receiving a confidence boost from last week’s victory.
“We’re coming off a win from (last) Friday and have played well in our non-conference games,” Maiello said. “We’ve worked hard since the beginning of August. This is what every team waits for, so we’re definitely excited.”
Head Coach Steve Brdarski said in addition to their win last week, the team had a great week of training to give them an extra confidence boost.
“We’ve been working on a lot of transition and talked about set pieces,” Brdarski said. “Those are two big things for us. And we’ve talked about defending. We have to defend to win games.”
While the team feels confident, Brdarski said they’re not going to overlook conference foes like St. Louis, despite their opponent’s recent on-field woes.
“I think St. Louis is underrated right now,” he said. “We haven’t taken them lightly whatsoever. We’ve talked about them a lot. We’re thinking about them a lot. It’s a tough game because they’re playing at home.”
Defender Caitlin MacConnell said the team’s versatility is a major strength.
“We force every team to conform to our various styles of play,” she said. “We’re not a team limited with one style of play. We’re very versatile, and that makes us very dangerous.”
According to Brdarski, the Bonnies know what to expect from tonight’s game.
“There won’t be any surprises or anything,” he said. “It’s going to come down to whoever steps up: who makes fewer mistakes, who makes the bigger plays in the flow of the game. And then it’s who’s able to deal with the first conference game nerves.”
The Bonnies are coming off a comeback win over UMass-Lowell.
After giving up an early River Hawks goal in the seventh minute, the Bonnies came back in the 22nd minute with a penalty kick, converted by forward Molly Curry, to erase the first half deficit.
Brdarski said he was proud of the hard work and play leading to the penalty kick.
“We had a great shot by Abby (Maiello) that bounced off the post,” Brdarski said. “We had Lauren (Hill) crashing into the goal. That’s a great thing as a coach. I love to see it. It wasn’t just one moment, there were a lot of other players that got involved.”
During the second half, midfielder Alyssa Lapp found the back of the net twice less than half a minute apart to give the team enough for its second win of the season.
“I’d be remiss if I didn’t say this
— Alyssa Lapp, what a freaking player,” Brdarski said. “The thing about her is I don’t think she gets enough respect for being a selfless player. She makes two great plays, has two great finishes. And those were big goals.”
Brdarski also sang praises to Maiello and defender/midfielder Cassidy Bruen, who played the ball on the goals.
While Lapp’s teammates played a major part of her goals scored last week, Brdarski said the amount of work the senior captain put in, both last week and throughout this season, is an example for her teammates to follow.
“In terms of work rate, effort, playing when you’re tired and being able to open up defenses, Alyssa gave a coaching session in that game on Friday,” he said. “I was really proud of her. It’s been a good season for her in terms of goals she’s scored, and what she’s done away from the net. She’s really helped our team.”
While outsiders may have had their doubts throughout the season so far, MacConnell said the team is feeling confident.
“There are many people there that have doubt in our success this year, but lions don’t lose sleep over the opinion of sheep,” MacConnell said. “We’ve never felt more confident about not only making it to A-10s, but advancing past the first round.”
