The St. Bonaventure women’s soccer team wrapped up its season Sunday with a 1-0 win over George Mason at home. The Bonnies record improved to 7-10-1 on the season and 3-6-1 in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The win against George Mason didn’t help the Bonnies to qualify for the A10 Tournament, as they missed the tournament by one game.
The home win resembled Bonaventure’s season as they went 6-2 at home. The Bonnies were knocked out of contention with their loss at Duquesne last Thursday. This loss is emblematic of the Bonnies’ struggles on the road, where they finished 1-8-1 for the season.
According to head coach Steve Brdarski, the lack of success on the road came down to not making the one play needed to win games.
“We just didn’t make the one play we needed,” Brdarski said. “I loved the character of our team on the road. We had very few games where we played bad. There were just games we didn’t play 90 minutes for. We paid the price for that.”
Senior goalkeeper Lauren Malcolm said one of the highlights of the season was the team’s home record.
“Having a great home record meant so much because it showed how passionate we are to represent our field and to defend our home turf,” Malcolm said.
Brdarski was most impressed with his team’s defensive effort at home.
“If you look at what our home record was for the year, that was incredible,” Brdarski said. “Only giving up four goals in eight games, I can’t remember the last time we were anywhere close to that in my seven years.”
The Bonnies had a five-win improvement from last year to this year. Brdarski credits the team with building up an adaptive personality. Malcolm credits the team’s work to the Marines in the beginning of the season, which established a different, less selfish mentality than the season before.
Brdarski was proud of how his team responded to an 0-4-1 start to the A10 season. He pointed to the team’s character to respond to the early season adversity.
Optimism is high for next year’s Bonnies team, according to Brdarski.
“We have some good players coming that are returning,” Brdarski said. “We also have some players that it will be impossible for us to replace them.”
For the Bonnies to be successful, Brdarski says the younger players need to step up to fill the void left by the eight graduating players.
“For some of our younger players, it’s time to step up.” Brdarski said. “If players want to help us, obviously they are going to figure out how to do that in the next six to eight months.”
Brdarski and Malcolm both agreed the key to success for next year’s team will be the team coming together as a cohesive group. Brdarski specifically mentioned that all 18 returning players need to begin preparing for the next season immediately.
Although the game against George Mason didn’t change the Bonnies playoff chances, both the coaches and the players felt compelled to send off the eight graduating seniors with a win.
“You want to end the year as a group with a win,” Brdarski said. “Very few teams get that opportunity. You want to send out your graduates in the highest of ways.”
Brdarski says he’ll remember this group of graduates for many reasons but one that stands out is the character of the group.
“The personality of the group. The leadership of the group. The character of the group, that’s going to be my bigger lasting impression of this team,” Brdarski said.
Bryce Kelly, Contributing Writer
kellybw19@bonaventure.edu
