BY WILL POLADIAN, SPORTS EDITOR
The St. Bonaventure women’s soccer team falls by score of 1-0 against conference foe Fordham to kick off conference play last Thursday.
The Bonnies (2-1-5, 0-1 A-10) and Rams (2-6-0, 1-0 A-10) had a stalemate going late into the first half. In the 43rd minute, senior midfielder Amber Achladis sent a shot on goal that Fordham junior goalkeeper Serena Mensah hit over the crossbar for the save.
“I think we started off the game pretty well,” head coach Steve Brdarski said. “It was a good build up, you know, finding our forwards, playing off of our 14 doublewide and everything and then credit to them, you know, I think they kicked it up a notch.”
In the 57th minute, Fordham senior forward Kristen Cocozza fired a shot from the left of the box past sophomore goalkeeper Chiara Gottinger for the first goal of the game.
“They had a player step up, hit a great shot,” Brdarski said. “We didn’t do enough to stop her.”
Next minute graduate forward Christina Torres, who returned for her first game after missing the last five on Thursday, tried to answer by sending a shot off the hands of the Rams keeper.
“Today, they made one more play than we did,” Brdarski said. “We tried to throw a couple different things at them here at the end, and I think the girls played hard, they wanted it. I think at the end of the day, we ran out of time.”
Gottinger kept the deficit to one all game as the Bonnies got outshot 31-12, but St. Bonaventure had no answer for the Rams defense.
“I think they took advantage of their opportunities,” Brdarski said. “I mean, that’s what it all comes down to.”
She finished the game with nine saves, bringing the season total to 67. This puts her third in the nation and first in the conference in total saves. This is her fifth game this season with nine or more saves.
Fordham keeper Mensah saved six shots in the contest.
Leading the Bonnies was senior defenseman, Kenzie Tarmino with four shots on the night.
For the Rams, graduate forward Caroline Monahan led all teams with five shots.
The Bonnies continue conference play on Sunday when they travel to Dayton, OH to take on the Flyers.
“It’s a tough test,” Brdarski said. “We’re going to do everything we can to prepare ourselves here in the next three days, to be ready for it. It’s going to be a tough match on the road that we’re gonna have to play well.”
The match will kick off at 1 p.m.
poladiwj20@bonaventure.edu
