By Alexis Young
Staff Writer
The St. Bonaventure University men’s soccer team concluded its season last Saturday after a 4-0 loss to Fordham. With this loss and losses to Rhode Island, Dayton and George Washington, the Bonnies were eliminated from playoff contention on the season’s last day.
“I feel like we took the positives from every game and just built on it and kept on getting better,” said Isaiah Wilson, sophomore midfielder/defenseman. “This season, I also felt like we really played as a team and a family out there. We were playing for our brothers every game, and because of this we had a better outcome than last season.”
Nicholas Richards, a redshirt-freshman midfielder/defenseman, said the game was a difficult loss.
“It was a very tough game to end our season on. With all of the expectations and high hopes of being so close to making into the A10 playoffs which would have been the programs fourth appearance in school history it was tough to take in,” he said.
The men’s season featured four wins, 12 losses and two ties—a two game improvement from last year.
Junior midfielder Kyle Kleckner said while the season did not result in a playoff berth, it was not a total loss for the team.
“The season was a positive step forward for the program,” said Kleckner. “It saw our team win twice as many games as we did last season. There were games in which we struggled, but as a young team, we knew that would happen and only [it] can go up from here.”
Wilson said there is room to improve for the team and some good parts of the year to build upon.
“[One] positive that we can take away is the belief that we can win. This played a big part for us this season,” Wilson said. “Also, the physicality that we had to play with every game. With this aspect, it gave us a chance to compete with good teams.”
According to Head Coach Kwame Oduro, the first four games were a struggle as injury made it hard to find the starting 11. The next 11 games, although not all wins, were played with confidence, said Oduro.
Oduro said the team needs to take the energy they brought in some guys and apply it to every moment they are on the pitch.
“We need to play all eight conference games with the same intensity and care like we did in the first six conference games this season and the results will come,” Oduro said. “Every minute of each game is an opportunity for our team to strive to be better. We also need to defend better and learn to play in important matches with better composure.”
Sophomore midfielder Kosi Nwafornso said he only sees the level of play improving moving forward.
“We need to build on the positives from this year and we can only get better from here,” Nwafornso said. “We are going to keep working hard and giving it our all to make sure that we are where we want to be next season which is in the playoffs.”
Wilson also knows how the team must continue to play if it wants to contend for an Atlantic 10 Championship next season.
“If we take the competitive edge and hard work that we had with us this year into next year, I think we could really surprise a lot of teams,” Wilson said.
youngam13@bonaventure.edu
