Photo: St. Bonaventure Athletics
BY ALLIE ELKINS, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The St. Bonaventure women’s soccer team’s 2023 season came to a close two weeks ago. The season brought with it some big changes, including the introduction of a new head coach for the first time in a decade.
Looking ahead to 2024, George said he is hoping to fill the gaps left by the departure of graduate students Haylee Smith, Christine Napoli, Rachel Hutchison, Amber Achladis and Kenzie Tarmino. The Bonnies also said goodbye to seniors Alexa Martinos, Lydia Choban, McKenna Robinson and Mackenzie Nolan.
But George said he sees their departures as an opportunity for others currently rostered to step up.
“Losing our seniors and our grads leaves a pretty significant hole in our team,” said George. “These seniors and these grads are moving on. Basically, they are leaving space for underclassmen to step up. So we are looking for players within our team to step up, and we are also looking for our freshmen coming in, in 2024, to fill those gaps.”
While the question of who will step up remains unanswered, George said he has some returning players in mind who may fit the open roles.
“We have some players I think here who can follow the path of Christine and Amber in the middle,” said George. “Lauren Westwood is one of those players. As a freshman this year, she played a lot of her minutes as the center of the pack. She’s going to be a player who will have a lot more responsibility now that Christine and Amber are gone.”
Coach George also suggested that junior defender Elisabeth Ptacek is someone who could play a big role on the team next season.
“She (Ptacek) is going to be a senior next year, so we think she will be able to step into a role that fills that gap that maybe Chris and Amber have left,” said George.
Goalkeeper Chiara Gottinger, who played a lot of minutes for the Bonnies in 2023, said she also has high hopes for this coming season.
“We improved a lot this year. We played great soccer and showed our conference what we are capable of,” said Gottinger. “In the end, we haven’t gotten that much-wanted playoff spot, but this season was just the beginning. We keep working hard and will come out stronger this year.”
2024 will be Gottinger’s final season on the team, which she said is something she is looking forward to.
“I’m excited to play my final season as a Bonnie, and I already know it will be a good one.” said Gottinger.
Coach George said he is also feeling confident about next season and some of the new faces entering the roster in 2024.
“I have faith in the girls. I have faith in our underclassmen to step up,” said George. “I also have faith in our recruiting, you know, some of the freshmen who are coming in to fill those roles.”
The Bonnies said goodbye to five graduate students and four seniors after the 2023 season.
elkinsae23@bonaventure.edu
