Photo courtesy of gobonnies.com
BY: SAMUEL WEILERT; STAFF WRITER
The St. Bonaventure women’s lacrosse team is looking to end its season strong. Its final regular season game is this upcoming Saturday against George Washington. After that, they’ll be playing in the A-10 Conference Tournament from April 30 to May 3.
Senior attacker Rylee Gonzalez detailed how the team was feeling about the upcoming stretch. “Knowing that we’ve clinched [a spot in the tournament], there’s a new energy brought to the team,” Gonzalez said. “Knowing that we’ve extended our play another week at least, and it just gives us a new fire to keep going.”
Senior defender Brit Colangelo had more to say about the upcoming game against George Washington.
“It’s always a really fun game to play, it’s like an unspoken rivalry with them,” Colangelo said.
Both Gonzalez and Colangelo, along with senior midfielder Brooke Piper, have all spent all four years as members of the Bonnies lacrosse team and are coming to terms with the fact that this is the final stretch of games left in their collegiate careers.
“People always tell you that four years really fly by, and you don’t really understand it until it’s already gone,” said Piper. “Every single time you get to step on the field with your friends matters.”
“It’s obviously very emotional, coming here as a freshman, I thought this day would never come, it really puts things into perspective,” said Colangelo.
Gonzalez added, “I’m definitely grateful for the memories I’ve made with my senior class. I know it’s going to go long beyond St. Bonaventure.”
All three of them agree that the team is in good hands with the underclassmen who will be replacing them as leaders next year.
One of those underclassmen who has been stepping up is freshman attacker Gracie Williams, who recently won Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week.
“She’s got really high lacrosse IQ and has stayed composed in very difficult moments,” said Piper about Williams.
Williams credits her coaches for helping her grow in her first year as a Bonnie.
“The past few games I’ve felt a lot more confident as a player; having my coaches put a lot of trust in me has been a big part of it,” said Williams. “Coming in as a freshman, it’s a little nerve-racking, but now with me more confident as a player, it’s been much better.”
Another player who has won awards this season is Brooke Piper, who just won her third Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Week award of the season this past Monday.
“It feels pretty good, while they may be personal accolades, I do think realistically you can’t put the ball in the back of the net without the support of your teammates,” Piper said about her hardware.
Brit Colangelo shared a similar sentiment about when she won Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Week back in early March.
“Awards are very nice in a way, it speaks a lot to my teammates who set me up for success as I wouldn’t be the same player without them,” said Colangelo.
As a whole, the team is very excited to finish out the year strong and bring a championship trophy back to Olean.
“Our end goal is getting a ring and winning on Championship Sunday, so that’s what we’re working for every single day,” said Colangelo.
