Photo: St. Bonaventure Athletics
By Allie Elkins, Sports Editor
The St. Bonaventure women’s lacrosse team suffered their first home loss last Saturday against Saint Joseph’s.
The Bonnies (overall 7-7, A-10 3-3) fell to the Hawks 16-7. The Hawks got off to a 4-0 start and led the entire game.
Bonaventure didn’t record a goal until 2:39 remaining in the first quarter when junior attack Tori Nascimento put the Bonnies on the board.
The game came down to consistency, according to Nascimento.
“SJU played at a fast pace, staying consistent,” said Nascimento. “For us, we need to not only match their pace but battle stronger and harder.”
The defeat marks the Bonnies’ third straight loss in a row.
Head coach Leighann Stauffer reflects on the team’s current mentality despite the continued losses.
“We had a tough three-game run in conference, and I think the team is excited to get the ball rolling again with more wins in the column,” said Stauffer. “They know that there is a lot riding on these next three games that we have, two of them being away, so we need to do everything we can to get into the right winning mindset again.”
The Bonnies face George Mason (8-6) this Saturday on the road.
The team needs to be hungry from the very beginning, according to Nascimento.
“In our game on Saturday, we need to come out from the very beginning with fire,” said Nascimento. “As a team, we play unreal when we have momentum. When the defense gets a stop, the offense needs to use that to then score a goal to finish out the play. That gets us so hyped.”
The Bonnies struggle on the road, with a record of 2-6 in away games. They lost their last two road matchups against UMass and Richmond.
Junior attack Fiona McGovern explains how success is a mental game.
“I think that going into Saturday, our mindset is everything,” said McGovern. “While we are viewing SJU as a learning experience, we also need to have the mindset that we aren’t okay or satisfied with anything less than winning.”
George Mason (8-6 overall, 2-4 A-10) enters Saturday’s matchup also coming off of a loss. The Patriots fell 16-6 to Davidson on the road. George Mason hosts Saturday’s matchup, holding a record of 4-2 at home this season.
Improvement starts in practice, according to Nascimento.
“Taking each successful offensive and defensive set of the game and progressing it further into this week of practice is crucial,” said Nascimento.
George Mason graduate student midfielder Shannon Touzzo is the driving force behind the Patriots’ offense with 44 goals this season and 12 assists. Touzzo ranked fourth in the Atlantic-10 in goals per game, averaging 3.14; fifth in points per game, averaging 4; and second in shots per game, averaging 6.86. Touzzo is two spots ahead of McGovern, who is fourth in the A-10 in shots per game with 5.79.
McGovern speaks on how crucial practice is leading up to Saturday.
“We are focusing on ourselves this week and have ramped up practices to hold ourselves to higher standards, both personally and as a team,” said McGovern. “This includes explicitly outlining things that we have to be doing (or not doing), that we are calling our ‘non-negotiables.’”
Coach Stauffer’s goals for the team are more specific.
“For us, we are successful when we have eight [or more] scorers [and] contributors on attack, keeping our turnovers around 8-10, continuing to win the draw battle, and only allowing the opposing team 3-5 8 meters on the day,” said Stauffer. “If we can do these things, there is no reason why we shouldn’t win the game.”
The Bonnies and the Patriots face off on Saturday at noon at the George Mason Stadium in Fairfax Virginia.
elkinsae23@bonaventure.edu
