After two straight losses at home, the GW women’s soccer team added an important conference win with a 2-1 victory over St. Bonaventure Sunday afternoon at the Mount Vernon Athletic Complex.
With the Atlantic 10 tournament just three weeks away, the Colonials knew that the Bonnies were the first of four upcoming “must-win” games.
“We’re working on getting to A-10’s,” said head coach Tanya Vogel. “There’s a ‘never say die’ attitude on this team.”
The game was scoreless until the 35th minute, when sophomore Stephanie Covello put GW’s first goal on the board after receiving a pass in front of the goal from freshman Brittany Eger. The Colonials went into halftime with a 1-0 lead, but St. Bonaventure’s Leah Oleski answered with an unassisted goal in the 53rd minute that sailed just out of reach of diving goalkeeper Amie Kern.
The tie did not last long, as red-shirt freshman Simone Russo sent a pass through the box and classmate Dara Rosen kicked the winning goal into the bottom left corner of the net in the 60th minute. Rosen said that although she was happy about scoring her fourth goal of the season, she “just wanted to stay in the game,” something the young team has struggled with.
“Playing with a young team has its ups and downs, but the team has matured so much this season and the energy that [the younger players] bring will carry us through,” said senior Shari Taylor, one of the team’s three captains.
On Friday afternoon, the Colonials (9-7-0, 2-4-0 A-10) hosted Fordham University but came up on the short end of a 2-1 loss. Despite a quick 1-0 lead after sophomore Meg Pyle scored in the third minute, the Colonials could not stop the Rams from putting up two goals in the first half or equate the score in the second half.
Because of Friday’s loss, the Colonials’ victory over St. Bonaventure was crucial, Taylor said.
“We all knew that we needed the win. Frankly, we needed it on Friday. I think the team realized we had a poor showing on Friday and that we had better get better today, which we did. We had to work harder and play smarter and I think that we did,” she said.
Kern, a red-shirt sophomore, had a combined nine saves in the two games.
“(The team) wanted to use the (St. Bonaventure) game to take out some anger,” Kern said. “We knew we gave away the game on Friday and wanted to come out with a fire under our bellies today. We were able to execute today but can always play better.”
“Our team’s good and they don’t realize it. I want them to believe in it,” Vogel said. She said her upperclassmen have been demonstrating their maturity and making good decisions on the field, and looks to them to keep it up throughout the remainder of the season.
The Colonials now travel to Dayton on Friday and Xavier on Sunday.
