Photo courtesy of gobonnies.com
BY: AIDAN SHINNERS; STAFF WRITER
The St. Bonaventure University women’s lacrosse team finished up fall ball with one goal in mind, returning to the Atlantic 10 Championship tournament.
Junior goalie Katelyn Hicks said the team used their fall play days as an opportunity to experiment with a few different lineups and strategies.
“Some of the positives were being able to try out new defenses and see how effective they are,” Hicks said. “Regardless of who is on the field we were one unit and worked together effectively.”
Hicks went 10-8 last season with a .473 save percentage and said that the team needs to work on playing the full game and not getting too comfortable with an early lead. Hicks said that this led to a loss to Siena University over the fall.
“We started off very strong and had a good defensive game,” Hicks said. “We got complacent and comfortable and started making silly mistakes.”
Ultimately, the Bonnies lost to Siena by one goal. Hicks said that that game will only make the team better as they head toward the season.
Senior midfielder Brooke Piper, who led the Bonnies with 68 goals last season, said that the team has worked well together despite the addition of 13 new freshmen to the team.
“One of the biggest things that stood out to everyone was how quickly we were able to work together in-game,” Piper said. “Sometimes it becomes difficult with a lot of freshmen coming in, but we all meshed together really well and easily.”
Piper said that their fall matchup with Niagara University was close and showed the team how to compete, while also keeping the Little Three rivalry feel to it even in the offseason.
“We have a little vendetta [with Niagara] from last year’s games,” Piper said. “They are a competitive squad, so the game went great and taught us a lot about ourselves and how we need to play in tight games.”
Both Piper and Hicks mentioned that Bonaventure already has their sights set on returning to the A-10 Championship tournament and beyond.
“I think our team is already looking to build off last year’s success,” Hicks said. “We want to finish top 3 in the A-10 this year and will need to win at least six conference games to do that.”
To do that, Hicks believes the team needs to play together and continue holding each other accountable for mistakes.
“Come May, we need to focus not only on our skills and ability to play, but also becoming comfortable with one another,” Hicks said. “We have to hold ourselves accountable and push us to be the best teammates and players we can be when we step out on the field.”
Piper, who is entering her fourth season as a Bonnie, said the goal every year has been to win the A-10 Championship, but this year feels different to her.
“Coming off last year’s success, we can really focus on our goals early,” Piper said. “This is my fourth year at Bonaventure and every year we say we want to win an A-10 Championship; however, I believe this is the first year we all bought in.”
The Bonnies will start their journey back to the Atlantic 10 Championship tournament in early February; the official schedule is still yet to be announced.
