By Heather Monahan
Features Editor
With the Atlantic 10 conference heating up, the St. Bonaventure women’s soccer team (5-8-1) will look to improve its win streak to four games this weekend as they welcome La Salle (10-3-2) to the McGraw-Jennings field at 1 p.m. today and St. Joseph’s (6-6-3) at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The Bonnies’ two opponents for this weekend faced off on Oct. 18, ending in a 6-0 victory for La Salle. The Explorers of La Salle went on to the NCAA tournament last year, where they lost to Virginia in the first round.
“There’s something to really deal with in terms of (the LaSalle) game,” Coach Steve Brdarski said. “And St. Joe’s is going to be really tough. They don’t have two games this weekend, so we’re going to play 90 minutes against La Salle and then have to turn around 36 hours later and play again.”
While she believes both games will be difficult, junior midfielder/forward Brittany Charles said she and her teammates are approaching it one game at a time.
“La Salle is our main concern for right now, as we play them first,” Charles said. “We’re expecting them to be a solid team that puts us under a great amount of pressure for the entire game. They’ve always had a strong defense that’s hard to break down, but we have been working on defending as a group and dealing with pressure.”
St. Bonaventure and Richmond are currently tied for fifth place in the conference with six points each. St. Joe’s and La Salle are both in a five-way tie for fourth, sitting just one point ahead of the Bonnies.
“Our conference is so neck-and-neck that any team can win on any given day, so both games will definitely be a battle,” junior forward Molly Curry said. “We’re just focusing on our team this week. If we just play as a team and play like we know how, we can take on anyone.”
Though Sunday will be a difficult game, senior defender Taylor Broderick said it’s a game she’s looking forward to, as she’ll be playing in front of her family.
“They haven’t seen me play since my sophomore year, so I’m pumped for them to be there and just see how good the team is this year,” Broderick said. “Our team has a lot of pride in winning on our home field, so I know we will come out hard and be ready to play.”
Sunday’s game against St. Joe’s also marks Senior Day, where the Class of 2014 will be honored for its contributions to the women’s soccer program.
“It’s really sad to think about actually. I’ve been playing soccer for 18 years, all building up to this moment,” senior goalkeeper Megan Junker said. “I just hope that my class as a whole will be remembered as a class who made a difference and helped take this program to a new level.”
While she still has a year until her own Senior Day, Curry said she’s excited to play at home this weekend.
“It’s great beating teams and defending our field,” she said. “After how well we played last weekend at home, I wish we played all of our games at home. We just brought a whole new energy to the field.”
Brdarski said he hopes both games get a good turnout this weekend.
“We’ve had some great loyal fans, and we have some great families that support us,” he said. “But I think playing in front of your classmates is an honor and a great experience.”
Charles said she was happy with the turnout for their games last weekend, where the team secured two victories as well as their first two conference shutouts. On Friday, Broderick recorded her first goal of the season in a 1-0 win against George Washington.
“I haven’t scored since my sophomore year, and playing defense, I don’t have the opportunity to score that often,” Broderick said. “Scoring off a header on a corner has been one of my personal goals for this season, so I was pretty stoked to finally have accomplished this.”
The George Washington game also marked the first of two shutouts the team would record, also aided by Broderick.
“You have to say this: Taylor’s first goal of the year? That’s a big goal. Game-winning goal? That’s a big goal,” Brdarski said. “But the bigger deal you have to say with Taylor is the fact that she played 180 minutes and got two shutouts. That was the bigger goal.”
On Sunday, the Bonnies secured a 2-0 victory against VCU. Curry and Charles both found the back of the net in the shutout.
“We really worked as a team this weekend, which I think is why we were so successful,” Charles said. “We defended as a team and attacked as a team and we were willing to sacrifice our bodies for the ball both in the air and on the ground.”
Brdarski said he was proud of how well the team played last weekend.
“It was a great team effort, possession-wise: a key component,” he said. “Another key component, I think, was toughness overall. We had physical and mental toughness to deal with certain things going on in the game.”
Brdarski said he was impressed with how well the team played after two tough games, a sentiment Curry agreed with.
“Honestly, after the games I just wanted to keep on playing,” she said. “The adrenaline was going, and I felt like no one could stop us – and I still feel that way. We just proved that we’re a team to be reckoned with.”
