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OHIO – The St. Bonaventure women's soccer team (5-9-1, 2-3 Atlantic 10 Conference) heads to Dayton and Cincinnati this weekend for its final two road games of the season as the Bonnies battle Dayton at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Xavier on Sunday at 1 p.m.
After losing a 3-2 decision last Friday night at Duquesne which dropped their A-10 record to 2-3, the Bonnies enter their second-to-last conference weekend in a three-way tie for 9th place in the league with six points.
SBU is tied with Massachusetts and Temple as all three clubs are just one win (three points) shy of occupying the 8th, and final, postseason spot with four A-10 games remaining. The complete list of conference standings and schedules can be found by clicking here.
Redshirt senior defender Shannon Van Riper continues to lead the SBU offensive efforts with 8 points off four goals. Sophomore Brittany Charles is a close second with 7 points coming from a goal and five assists. The five helpers are already tied for 12th-most in a single season in program history.
Dayton (10-4, 4-1 A-10) enters the weekend tied with Charlotte and VCU for 2nd place in the A-10 with 12 points. The Flyers have gotten to near the top of the league ledger with a vaunted offensive attack which not only leads the A-10, but ranks third nationally in goals per game (3.07).
UD senior forward Colleen Williams is tops among all Division I players in points per game (2.64) and assists per game (.79), and is tied for first in total assists with 11. She broke Dayton's career scoring record last weekend in the Flyers' loss to Butler when she tallied her 54th strike.
Dayton leads the all-time series against St. Bonaventure with a 12-1-2 mark. However, the Bonnies have played the Flyers tough the last two times they've matched up. The Brown and White upset Dayton when it was ranked No. 25 in the nation during the 2010 regular season, but UD responded with a 1-0 overtime win against Bona in the A-10 Championship semifinal later that year.
Xavier enters the weekend with a 6-8-1 overall record, but just a 1-4 A-10 mark, tying the Musketeers for 14th place in the conference with Rhode Island. In its A-10 games, Xavier has been outscored 9-1 and lost four straight – all via the shutout – after commencing the league docket with a 1-0 victory.
Like their matchup with Dayton, the Bonnies have had a great deal of recent success against Xavier, going 3-0-1 during head coach Manoj Khettry's tenure at the helm of the Brown and White. The Bonnies have claimed 2-0 victories in each of the last two meetings, most recently in 2010.
Following its swing through the Buckeye State, St. Bonaventure returns home to close out its regular season next weekend against Massachusetts on Friday and Senior Day opposite Rhode Island on Sunday.
