(Photo Credit: Intrepid Photographer Ian Coyne)
By Chuckie Maggio @chuckiemaggio
If you’re looking for a pro sports comparison to the St. Bonaventure women’s soccer team, look no further than the New York Yankees.
Baby Bombers, meet Baby Bonnies.
The Yanks have crept back into the American League wild card race thanks in large part to the contributions of players like Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge and Tyler Austin who are 25 years old or younger. The Bonnies have won two games with 10 combined goals thanks in large part to the goals of freshmen and sophomores.
Bona defeated the Youngstown St. Penguins 6-0 on Friday night to improve to 2-2-1. Freshman Bella May scored the first two goals of her career, while sophomore Marley Jarvis had her team-leading third goal and sophomore Jessica Scruggs scored her first of the year. Freshman Lauren Malcolm earned her first clean sheet in net. The only upperclassman who scored was junior Danielle Vis.
The four goals in the first half were the most in a half since 2008. Some fans had concerns that SBU would go winless in the non-conference. No one forecasted just how good the youth movement would be.
“We’ve had really good practices lately, which is giving us a lot of confidence,” said May, whose goals were rockets, one from each foot.
“The only critique I would have is she’s not celebrating enough,” Brdarski said, with a laugh, of the Baldwinsville, N.Y. native. “She’s got to step up her goal celebrations.”
When you outshoot a team 18-6 in a decisive victory, there’s not much you can critique. If we’re nit-picking, however, the clearances in the defensive box need some work. The Penguins had several chances to score just because SBU struggled to get the ball out of the box.
“I’m really proud of how we defended, though,” Brdarski said. “To get the first shutout of the year is a testament to how hard we worked. We have a young team that works really hard everyday in practice, and we’re getting the results on the field.”
Fans looking to watch the high-powered offense again have to wait until Sept. 24, as the team is on the road for the next three games. Cleveland St., Florida Atlantic and Florida Gulf Coast are the upcoming opponents.
“The Cleveland St. and Florida games are going to be a real good test for us,” Brdarski said. “We’ve done well at home, but the road games are a different challenge.”
If the goal-scoring and relentless defense continues, the Baby Bonnies will be up for the challenge.
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