The St. Bonaventure women’s soccer team remained winless in conference play today, falling to Saint Louis Billikens in overtime 1-0.
The two teams played 90 scoreless minutes, and in the fourth minute of overtime, senior forward Kirsten Clemens broke the tie. The win put the Billikens at 12-2-1 on the season and 5-0-1 in conference.
The loss was the Bonnies sixth straight, putting their record at 3-11-1 and 0-6-0 in conference.
The game started quickly, with Saint Louis getting two corner kicks within the first minute of play. Freshman goalkeeper Lauren Malcolm made a save on the first, and the second went out for a goal kick.
Five minutes later a scramble in the Saint Louis box nearly lead to a goal for the Bonnies, but attempts by both freshman forward Sabrina Sousa-Sampson and sophomore forward Jessica Scruggs were saved.
The first half was contested in the midfield, and while both teams had forays into each other’s halves, both defenses managed to hold off any attempts on goal.
In the 24th minute Saint Louis’s freshman forward Evie Lavelle fired off a shot that was over Malcolm’s head, but hit the crossbar. Saint Louis began to control more of the game at this point, forcing the Bonaventure defense to put in extra effort to keep the game scoreless.
In the 32nd minute Saint Louis won a corner kick, and after the first ball into the box was cleared out, sophomore defender Isabella Palazzolo looked to have found the opening goal, only for Bonaventure senior defender Jennifer Morris to clear the ball off the line after it got by Malcolm.
The first half had two more shots, coming from Bonaventure junior forward Danielle Vis and Lavelle, but both went wide, and the half ended scoreless.
To start the second half, Saint Louis had a long distance effort within the first five minutes. The ball bounced past Malcolm, but hit the post and was cleared out.
Bonaventure continued to press for a goal, their efforts coming from outside of the box from Sousa-Sampson and freshman forward Bella Marra.
In the 82nd minute, Bonaventure won a corner and nearly found the goal, but the header was just over the top of the bar.
As time started winding down, Saint Louis pressed hard for a goal, winning corners and taking shots, including an effort that went wide of the goal from sophomore midfielder Maddie Pokorny.
A Saint Louis corner was the last action of the second half, and the teams went into overtime with no goals on either side.
Clemens goal in the 94th minute left two players on the ground after the final whistle had gone, a Saint Louis player and Bonaventure junior defender Brittany Tubiolo. Both players received treatment and were able to walk off the field.
The women have two upcoming games at home, Thursday Oct. 20 against Davidson at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday Oct. 23 against Dayton at 1:00 p.m.
