April 20, 2008

Final Stats

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - Playing in the final game of their collegiate careers, St. Bonaventure's senior class tallied a combined 10 goals to lead the Bonnies to a 17-9 Atlantic 10 victory over La Salle on Sunday afternoon at McGraw-Jennings Field.

Brenna Houghton and Kimberly Ross led the senior charge with seven points each. Both finished with four goals and three assists. Three of Houghton's four goals came off an assist from Ross. Senior Stephanie Jordan opened the scoring with her 15th goal of the season, while Megan Murphy got into the act with one tally.

Not to be outdone by her offensive classmates, senior Eboni Preston turned away 16 shots in her final game in cage. Preston stopped 12 shots in the first frame en route to her 26th career victory. Preston's defensive counterpart Meghan DePaul established a new career-high with five ground balls to help the Bona defense hold its third opponent in five games to under 10 goals.

St. Bonaventure finished its first season under head coach Christy Malone with a 4-10 overall record and 2-5 in the Atlantic 10.

While the day belonged to the seniors, the Bonnies' underclassmen showed the future of the program is bright. Sophomore Molly Hastrich and Patty Nessle both accumulated four points. Hastrich scored two goals and added two assists, while Nessle's fifth hat trick of the season accounted for most of her points. Freshman Christine Hanley capped a solid first season with two goals.

The Brown and White took a commanding 5-0 lead just over 10 minutes into the game. Houghton found Jordan for the first goal of the game just 34 seconds in and Ross tallied two goals during the run.

Ross completed her goal scoring by the end of the half as she closed the opening 30 minutes with five points. Her last point of the half was an assist to Houghton with four seconds remaining, giving the Bonnies at 10-3 lead at the break.

La Salle continued to battle in the second half, scoring the first two goals of the final frame to cut it to a 10-5 contest.

St. Bonaventure's youngster's proved to be too much in the second half, as Hanley, Hastrich and Nessle combined for five of the team's seven goals in the closing 30 minutes.