Soccer ties Binghamton

By Dominic LoVallo
Contrbuting Writer
The men’s soccer team closed the gap on the opposition, but they still were unable to find a way to score. Last Friday, the Bonnies lost to the St. Francis Red Flash in a low-scoring game as they were shutout, 1-0. St. Bonaventure, throughout the entirety of the game, only managed one shot, compared to St. Francis’s seven shots on senior keeper Bobby Diaz.
Wednesday night, the Bonnies tied the Binghamton Bearcats by a score of (0 -0). This was Bonaventure’s first shut out of the season.
Diaz was happy with the performance and effort of his team.
“We defended really well,” Diaz said. “Our last game, we only gave up one goal. We lost a tough game to St. Francis, and we looked to come into this game and keep our defensive shape, keep the ball in front of us, keep the play in front of us, and I thought we really took pride in our defending today; we did well.”
Recently, Head Coach Kwame Oduro changed his team’s formation. This could be the factor which has brought down the amount of goals scored against the Bonnies, but they are still having trouble finding ways to score themselves.
Sophomore midfielder Kieran Toland feels his team needs to start taking advantage when opportunities arise.
“For us, we plan to defend and then try to counter teams.” Toland said. “If you look at the schedule we have, it is harder than most, so we play teams that are better than us technically, but if we work harder than them and defend well, it is just a matter of taking our chances when we get them.”
That “drive to score” is going to be put to the test against their rival, University at Buffalo Bulls this Saturday on the Marra Athletic Complex. This will be the Bonnies’ last game before they take on the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Rams in their first conference game of the season.
The Bonnies (1-8-1) start to this season has made it hard to imagine them becoming contenders for the A-10’s, but that hasn’t stopped Toland from letting go of his goal for the season.
“The team has come a long way,” Toland said. “But after the last couple of matches and some of the team performances we have put in, I definitely believe we can compete for the A-10’s. We have been building as a team and our performances have been getting better and better. When conference comes around, I think the team will get a boost and be ready for the tougher games to come.”
Diaz shared that same optimism concerning the A-10’s.
“I think we can do anything, yeah,” Diaz said. “Especially on the back of these last two games, you know. We’ve improved dramatically. This is our first shutout of the year, so we can only build off that. If you don’t give up any goals, you can’t lose.”
This Saturday, during alumni weekend, the Bonnies have a 7 p.m. kick off against the UB Bulls. The Brown and White will be at VCU next Wednesday for a 7 p.m. matchup to start conference gameplay.