By Heather Monahan
Assistant Features Editor
The women’s soccer team (5-9-1) fell to Duquesne (5-8-2) last weekend in Pittsburgh, 3-2. The Bonnies travel to Dayton (10-4-0) tonight at 7:30 and play their last scheduled road game against Xavier (6-8-1) on Sunday at 1 p.m.
“Beating Dayton at Dayton on the road is an extremely tall order,” head coach Manoj Khettry said.
However, the Bonnies are one of the few teams which have succeeded against Dayton in the past.
“There is belief from our players that we can beat them,” Khettry said. “I don’t think they’re intimidated.”
Senior midfielder Nicole Rosso said that while the Bonnies are usually the underdog in matches against Dayton, she expects the team’s confidence to be an advantage.
“They’re a strong team, but so are we,” Rosso said. “I think this is a good position for us to be in because we know a team like Dayton isn’t looking at us. They’re looking past us, and that’s one of the worst things you can do, especially against a team like us.”
Khettry said while Xavier hasn’t been very good on the road, the Bonnies are expecting a tough away game.
“At home they seem to be very tough so it’ll be a difficult team to break down,” Khettry said.
Senior goalkeeper Katie Kerkman said she knows both teams will be difficult and will try to take the lead early in the games.
“As long as we keep our heads and connect passes like we have all year, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t score first and hold a lead,” Kerkman said.
Freshman forward Abby Maiello said the team is excited and confident going into their games this weekend.
“It’s about us and how much we believe in ourselves,” Maiello said. “This weekend we’re looking to make a statement about Bona’s soccer and show the conference that we’re here and we will compete.”
Khettry said leading up to their games this weekend, the team hasn’t changed anything about their style of play, but has focused more on refining it.
“We’ve been trying to do everything we do a little bit faster and a little bit better,” Khettry said. “We haven’t changed to prepare for Dayton or Xavier. I think it’s too late in the season to do that.”
The team will also focus on moving the ball forward during the games this weekend.
“We have to certainly press both Dayton and Xavier,” Khettry said. “I think the higher up the field we can press, the easier it is for us to defend.”
Kerkman said this is something they’ve been working on in practice.
“Lately we’ve been playing a lot of small sided passing games, working on one and two touch passing,” Kerkman said. “We want to move the ball as fast as we can under control and move it forward.”
With the team currently in ninth place in the Atlantic 10 conference, they need three more wins to secure a spot in the tournament.
Rosso said that she’s very confident in the team’s ability to make it to the tournament.
“It’s no longer been about making it to the A-10 tournament for us, it’s expected,” Rosso said. “Being the only team at this university to qualify for four straight A-10 tournaments, we’re going to up our own record and be the only team to make it to five straight.”
Maiello agreed the team’s confidence in each other is very high going into the games leading up to the tournament.
“We’re confident in each other as a team and as individuals to rise to the occasion and put forth the required efforts to get us there,” Maiello said. “We remain positive in everything we do, and I see nothing stopping us getting to the Atlantic 10 tournament.”
Kerkman agreed and looks forward to showcasing the team’s confidence on the field this weekend.
“We like to play together and trust each other on the field,” Kerkman said. “I think that’s really going to show this weekend. This season has been a lot of fun and sweeping this weekend would be even more fun.”
While they’re putting their loss against Duquesne behind them, Khettry said the team was disappointed with the results after playing so well throughout the game.
“We started the game really well,” Khettry said. “We had great rhythm. I think we got a little flustered after we gave up a goal and lost our rhythm.”
Rosso agreed that the first goal from Duquesne was what threw them off.
“We had put one away early in the game and they answered with a lucky goal from 25 yards out that beat our keeper over the top,” Rosso said. “From there, we played a bit timid.”
Kerkman said she felt the team played very well throughout the game and was very strong with controlling the game.
“We connected passes very well and were able to switch the field quickly which caught them off guard a couple times,” Kerkman said.
Khettry said the Bonnies had 67 percent of the possession during the Duquesne game.
“Any time you’re dominating a team and you give up a goal against the run of play it’s kind of a stab in the heart,” Khettry said.
