By Jonathan Sawyer
Sports Editor
The St. Bonaventure Women’s Soccer team will begin their season on Friday August 19 as they take on the Binghamton Bearcats to open up the 2016-2017 season. The Bonnies are coming off a 6-11-2 season last year and finishing 12th in the Atlantic 10 conference. Not being heavily favored in the A10 as they are projected to finish last this year (14th).
Head coach Steve Brdarski said he hopes the team can stay healthy and build on every game.
“Last year, we had some moments where injuries came at the wrong times and we had to change things on the fly,” Brdarski said. “I hope we can avoid that this season, but if not we need to be more ready and be able to step up however we can on and off the field.”
Brdaski said last years’ class will be impossible to replace, but the players will need to grow as a team in order to win games.
“We will have to find a way to score goals and get the leadership they provided. Yet, the odds of having a young team are not a bad thing,” Brdarski said. “I think we will be hungry and we have a staff that has worked hard to get everything out of this team. And if it does not happen on game 1 its ok, but we will just work hard and refocus to do everything we can for our team.”
Loosing a lot of veteran leadership last season, the Bonnies will depend on their young players to step up this season.
“We are a young team that has developed great team chemistry so far. We can not think about the future, and all I mean by that is not take for granted what every day offers to us,” Brdarski said. “If we think too far down the road we will forget the details that we need to accomplish and the steps that we have to take on this journey.”
One veteran leader from last season, junior defensemen Brittany Tubiolo, said the team needs to learn from last season and look towards the future.
“We put in a lot of hard work during the spring to help grow stronger as a whole and prepare for this fall season,” Tubiolo said. There is a large incoming class so there is a lot of new energy that will help fuel the team.”
Brdarski said the goals of the team will change throughout the season but commitment is going to be a major one.
“We have to be committed to working hard, playing together, defending as a team for 90 minutes, competing in practice every day, and respecting the honor it is to represent the students and alumni of SBU will be our focus,” Brdarski said.
Tubiolo said that an experience back line and team chemistry is a couple of the Bonnies biggest strengths.
“There is such a large incoming class, we are able to have a deeper bench this year,” Tubiolo said. “Overall, we have a very young team, but the upperclassmen have been preparing the younger girls for this season. We have also been dealing with a few injuries throughout preseason.”
Ending the season last year at the bottom of the A10, Brdarski believes in order for the team to contend they have to play as a blue collar team.
“We need to play with an attitude, work ethic, and commitment that goes along with being a Bonnie,” Brdarski said. “I think you saw that in moments last season against Richmond (Bonnies won 2-0) and Saint Louis (Bonnies won 1-0). We need to play to grind out results, that will go a long way in our league.”
The Bonnies will have some tough opponents this season, but Brdarski believes the toughest is themselves.
“To be great we will have to push each other and compete with each other to raise our level. If we don’t get it done in practice, it won’t happen come game day. It should be much easier when we play against someone,” Brdarski said.
Tubiolo said that the game against Binghamton will be full of energy and excitement.
“We’ve been putting in a lot of hard work on and off the field for the past two weeks, and I think that everyone is ready to come out and play,” Tubiolo said. “We expect to come out with a win for the season opener.”
Brdarski said his teams needs to “work hard, every player defending and focus on our game plan defensively, and to have fun.”
The Bonnies will take on the Binghamton Bearcats in their home and season opener at 7 p.m.
