Rosiek receives first D-I victory with 20-8 win on the road
By Jonathan Sawyer
Sports Assignment Editor
The St. Bonaventure women’s lacrosse team opened up its season last Saturday with a 20-8 win over the Delaware State University Hornets. The Bonnies were up four at halftime when they put the pressure on by scoring six unanswered goals to jump out to a 16-6 lead. The Bonnies added four more goals to rout the Hornets.
It was not only the first win of the season, but it was the first win for the Bonnies’ new head coach Chelsea Rosiek, and she was pleased with the effort from her team.
“It was so exhilarating to have my first win as a head coach of a Division 1 program,” Rosiek said. “We had about three weeks to implement our new systems and team and individual roles. I thought the girls performed very well considering the amount of time we had prior to our first competition.”
The Bonnies’ leading scorer was junior attacker Rachel Perla with four goals and two assists. Perla says scoring was nice but the end goal is all about how the team does.
“With it being the first game under Coach Rosiek, everyone is still looking to prove themselves,” Perla said. “It’s important to have little victories along the way, but to also keep the end goal in mind. We are aiming to turn the program around so when it comes down to it, you just have to do what you have to do to help the team achieve that.”
The Bonnies outshot the Hornets 32-15, and that was the biggest difference in the game according to Perla.
“Our defense worked hard to limit Delaware State’s shot selection, or to force low angle shots so our goalie could come up with a save, getting it back to our offensive end.,” Perla said.
Right behind Perla in the scoring column was senior captain attacker Mikayla Place with three goals and two assists. Place credits her performance to the high intensity instilled by Rosiek.
“I have been preparing a lot especially this year with a higher intensity, and I feel as though it has a lot to do with our new coach and her coaching philosophy,” Place said. “My team has almost everything to do with it as well. Without them, I wouldn’t be able to get the chances I do to put the ball in the back of the net.”
With only being one game in, junior midfielder Scarlet Jaworski believes her team has the right mood moving onto the rest of the season.
“With the new coaching staff, we were given a fresh start. So now from here we need to take the positivity and the energy from that win and keep it for our next game against Robert Morris University.,” Jaworski said.
Jaworski was the third top scorer with three goals. She says leading by example is what she tries to do for her team.
“The junior class is full of natural leaders,” Jaworski said. “I sometimes forget that I am no longer one of the younger players and have to remind myself to stay positive when practices are tough.”
Being a leader and one of two seniors, Place believes her role this year had to change especially with a coaching change in the middle of the year.
“I think my role became a lot bigger especially from last year when our coach left this winter.,” Place said. “I felt that I had to step up and really show a different style of leadership when he resigned and we were kind of in the middle of things. Being there not only as a captain but also someone that can help with workouts, mentoring, etc.”
Capitalizing on opportunities was key for the Bonnies, according to assistant coach Allison Stathius.
“I felt that our biggest strength was capitalizing on every opportunity. When we had the ball on attack, we produced, when the ball was in our defensive end, we were able to make the stop,” Stathius said. “I would like to see us take care of the ball a little more through the midfield transition as well as cause more turnovers with a strong defensive ride between the 30’s.”
The Bonnies’ next game won’t come until Friday March 4, as they head to Robert Morris University to take on the Colonials at 4 p.m.
sawyerjp15@bonaventure.edu
