By Gavin Lindahl
Sports Assignment Editor
The women’s soccer team made history last Friday when they stepped onto the Marra Athletics Complex field under the lights to kick it about with Binghamton University – the first night game in school history.
Fittingly, the Bonnies won 3-1 in front of 1,248 fans making it the largest turn out of spectators at a women’s soccer match ever. Head coach Steve Brdarski was pleased that the result could be in front of donors Tom and Michelle Marra, for whom the complex gets its namesake.
“We gave them a great show. ‘Thank you’ is something I think you should always say as much as you can,” said Brdarski. “But when you can say, ‘thank you, and that victory, you allowed us to do that by giving us this amazing field to play on,’ it’s a perfect night.”
Ceremony and niceties aside, the women’s squad gave a solid performance scoring on three of its four shots on goals. Senior midfielder/forward Brittany Charles scored just under three minutes into the game, and junior forward Lauren Hill tallied an insurance goal shortly before the 10 minute mark.
Senior forward Molly Curry also scored for the Bonnies. Junior goalkeeper Christina Sarokon, who would have had her fifth shutout of the season had it not been for Binghamton’s lone goal, recorded nine saves.
A large amount of the squad’s success came because of crisp, smart passing and an effective attack, according to Brdarski.
“We were efficient, and we got the job done,” Brdarski said. “Those were probably three of the best goals that we’ve scored all year, and when you watch them on video, they’re even better. They look nice, but they’re really the finished product. The one goal, we had nine passes before the ball gets played into the box, and we get a goal off of it. Pass, pass, goal and there were another three or four goals before that that started in our own end. It was a great counter attack.”
While the team seemed to dominate the game in all aspects, Brdarski admits the team wasn’t perfect, especially in allowing a goal by Binghamton only 18 seconds after Curry’s.
“Did we have a couple hiccups? We did. That goal they scored, I felt they did nothing to deserve that goal. It was just a routine shot,” Brdarski said. “On all three goals, we allowed them to go right after us right away, and when you have a little lift of energy, you should make sure that they don’t even get a sniff. We could have been a little bit better with the ball. We gave away possession, but on the opposite side of that, we still won 3-1, and we still took care of the game.”
Following their 3-1 victory, the team hit the road to face the University of Massachusetts Lowell, but lost the match 1-0 after a 20th minute goal by the River Hawks.
“To sum it up shortly, we didn’t come to play for the first 20 minutes. We went behind, and we chased the game.” Brdarski said “Were they better than us? No. Did we create enough opportunities? Yeah, but if you don’t score, it doesn’t matter how many opportunities you create.”
The Bonnies will have this week off before beginning conference play against Davidson at home at 3:30 Friday, October 3.
lindahg12@bonaventure.edu
