The St. Bonaventure men’s soccer team sits in fifth place out of 13 teams in its conference. The team can secure a spot in the Atlantic 10 Championship in its final conference game, which requires a top-eight finish.
This is a big turnaround after coming in last place in the conference last season.
Sophomore midfielder Remi Dujardin said that despite the out-of-conference games not showing it, the team played well during them, and a number of new players have added to the team’s overall quality.
“Last year was a building year for the program because of the arrival of a lot of freshmen and transfers under a new coach. We showed promise, but we lacked the experience and quality in our game to be able to compete and win games,” said Dujardin. “This year, we did not lose a lot of starters, and the returners have come back with only one goal in mind, which was to make the A10 playoffs.”
Junior midfielder Kieran Toland said that scoring goals is the most important thing, and the team was not doing that at the beginning of the season.
“Before conference we were playing very well, but we weren’t taking our chances, and now we are taking our chances and starting to win games,” said Toland. “We also have this belief around us now that we can go and compete with anyone in the conference and come out of any game with a win.”
The team has a record of 3-3-1 in conference, and coach Kwame Oduro attributes this to the team playing well on the defensive end and being able to maintain possession.
“We’ve kept the ball better, and I think any good defensive team will keep the ball,” said Oduro. “We’ve been comfortable playing out of the back and playing through the midfield and the attacking thirds. That pushes teams back, so that means less chances for them on goal.”
Bonaventure has one more tune-up game against New Jersey Institute of Technology on Saturday before its final conference game of the season against Fordham University on Saturday, Nov. 5. In order to secure a spot in the postseason, junior midfielder Paul Afful said the team needs to play well tactically.
“I think we just have to stay focused in each game and play our normal game. What caused us to lose in the game versus Saint Louis was we were not able to stay focused throughout the game,” said Afful. “We need to play as a team and have the self belief that we can beat them, and also be tactically disciplined on the field.”
Senior midfielder Eddie Keen said the team does not need to make improvements to their game, and as long as they continue to play to their strengths they can win against Fordham.
“I’m not sure if there’s much we can do to improve our team in skill and the way we play,” Keen said. “Maybe mentally we need to be a bit sharper at times and be able to refocus ourselves for these last few games. There’s not a lot of time left in the season for big changes, and I don’t think we need big changes.”
Senior defender Noel Orozco echoed Keen, saying that in order to secure some points at Fordham, the team needs to continue doing what they have been.
“We can’t really think about it too much; we just have to play our game,” said Orozco. “Coach says we win and lose in the midfield, so that’s on us to play well in the midfield. If we play well there, we can win.”
signorra15@bonaventure.edu
