By Cameron Carr, Contributing Writer
Seeking an important conference victory, the Bonnies broke through in the final 20 minutes of their Saturday afternoon road meeting with Duquesne, scoring twice and winning, 2-0.
In the 72nd minute, midfielder Fredrik Hanson scored the Bonnies first goal off a sweet feed from sophomore Joshua Pulla. Then, freshman Luca Tiozzo, assisted by Francesco Caorsi, scored his first career goal in the 88th minute to give the Bonnies some insurance.
“I didn’t feel anything about that,” said Tiozzo when asked about scoring his first career goal for the school. “I am a striker, so I have to score to play. So, I think I did my work.” said Tiozzo.
Tiozzo is more focused on doing his job and helping his team win than on personal milestones.
At half, the Bonnies left the pitch frustrated offensively with the score knotted at zero.
The Bonnies got off just one shot through the first 45 minutes and had no corner kick opportunities.
“In the first half Duquesne was very organized and it was hard to find the spots to score,” said Tiozzo.
The Dukes also came up empty in the first half, despite generating 13 shots and four corner kicks. The Dukes scoreless half came thanks to an outstanding performance from the Bonnies sophomore goalkeeper Justyn Sandhu. Sandhu made a diving save in the 31st minute, and then another important stop just two minutes later to keep the Dukes off the board.
The Bonnies defense tightened up in the second half and did not allow the Dukes any shots on goal. Sandhu recorded seven saves in total and earned his second career clean sheet.
“Something changed in the second half,” said Tiozzo. “At the end of the first half, Coach gave us some good advice and we started to play better.”
The numbers support Tiozzo’s sentiment. The Bonnies generated nine shots and earned five corner kicks in the final 45. The Bonnies incredible second half turnaround put them two goals ahead and in an excellent position to win the game.
In the 89th minute of the game, referees handed a Duquesne midfielder a red card, leaving the Dukes a man short and with almost insurmountable odds of making a comeback. Despite the card, which came as the result of a poor tackle, Tiozzo said that the game was not chippy and that both teams had respect for each other.
“We were really happy,” said Tiozzo about picking up the win. “After this, we know that we are a good team that can beat anyone. We were happy because we showed to everyone that we are a good team.”
The win avenges an early season loss to the Dukes and gives the Bonnies their first A10 win of the season. The Bonnies will be out for more vengeance this Saturday at 7:00 p.m. at Saint Louis. Bonaventure fell to the Billikens just two weeks ago, 2-0.
carrc19@bonaventure.edu
