The club hockey team failed to capitalize on the momentum of its first win, dropping a pair of games last weekend.
Oct. 17, the Bonnies traveled to Ithaca to take on the Cornell Big Red. St. Bonaventure fell behind early, giving up six goals before netting one of its own. After three consecutive goals by the Bonnies in the third period, a short-handed goal by Cornell with just over three minutes remaining in the game pushed the score to 7-3, ending any chance of a comeback for the Bonnies.
The next day, the Bonnies headed to Oswego for a Sunday afternoon game against the Lakers. A goal by sophomore forward Ben Solnick staked the Brown and White to an early, one-goal lead, but back-to-back goals by Oswego put the Lakers up 2-1 after the first period. Less than one minute into the second period, sophomore forward Tyler Gokey scored to tie the game, but Oswego countered with three goals of its own and led 5-2 after 40 minutes of play. The Bonnies failed to generate any goals in the third period, falling by a final score of 7-2.
According to senior Captain Nate Parker, a defenseman, a lack of experience and some errors proved costly for the Bonnies.
“Although throughout our young season we have not made many mistakes, Cornell and Oswego are two teams that will take advantage of any mistake that is made,” Parker said. “We played a much tighter and cleaner game in our home opener than we did [last] weekend, and that is what hurt us.”
Junior Assistant Captain Evan Wohlabaugh agreed with his teammate.
“This weekend, we had moments where everyone was flying, and the ice was tilted in our favor,” Wohlabaugh said. “But the teams this weekend were able to capitalize on some breakdowns we had in our defensive zone.”
Despite the losses, several bright spots remain for the Bonnies, notably the play of sophomore goaltender Alex Feyche. The net minder made 62 saves in the season-opening win and continued to impress his teammates last weekend, they said.
“Feyche stood on his head this weekend,” Wohlabaugh said. “He faced a lot of tough shots and really helped us out.”
Friday afternoon, the Bonnies travel to Cortland for a 3:45 game, and Saturday night, they play Ithaca College.
According to Parker, small adjustments and a focus on fundamentals will be necessary for the team to get back in the win column.
“We have spent the last week or so working to improve our defensive zone coverage,” Parker said. “Overall, we have improved, but we still had too many mental lapses that hurt us. Once everything starts clicking, we will look like a much better team, and we are not far from that.”
Kibbeei14@bonaventure.edu
