ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – Entering the weekend, the St. Bonaventure women's soccer team knew it needed to win both of its games and get a little bit of help to qualify for its fifth straight Atlantic 10 Championship.
On Friday afternoon, the Bonnies accomplished step one by defeating Massachusetts in double overtime, 1-0. On Friday evening, Bonaventure got the help it needed when Dayton defeated Richmond, 2-1. Now, entering Sunday's home match against Rhode Island on Senior Day, St. Bonaventure knows if it wins it is guaranteed to be one of the eight teams in the A-10 Championship next week.
Bona enters Sunday's match with a 4-4 A-10 record, good for 12 points, and in a four-way tie for 6th place with Rhode Island, Fordham and Saint Joseph's. While the Bonnies and Rams square off against each other, so do Fordham and Saint Joe's.
A win assures SBU a postseason berth, but a tie or loss does not eliminate the Brown and White. Multiple scenarios exist for the Bonnies to still qualify, but the odds are significantly less.
Prior to Sunday's 1 p.m. start against URI, St. Bonaventure will honor its six seniors – student manager Kelley Burke, Jennifer Andrews, Katie Kerkman, Maureen Madden, Nicole Rosso and Shannon Van Riper. Andrews and Kerkman – both redshirt juniors – have another year of athletic eligibility, but will not utilize it. Below is more information on each player.
Kelley Burke, Student Manager
In the words of Katie Kerkman: "Kelley arrived on our team second semester of freshman year. Kelley has been a key asset to our team; she is at every practice and every game. She puts in so much effort keeping stats, filming games and helping keep morale up on the team. She is a loud and positive presence on the sideline during games, and is always pushing us to do our best. She is always positive and drives us to perfection, whether we're running fitness or chasing a win during a game. Kelley has been an essential part of our team. She puts in countless hours working with Manoj and Morie on film and stats, and I am so glad she chose to come to Bonaventure and be such a force on our team."
Katie Kerkman (#1)
Katie Kerkman played in six games, starting five of them, during her freshman season in 2009. She earned the A-10 Rookie of the Week on Sept. 14 after posting a career-high seven saves in a 1-0 shutout at Bowling Green.
Katie played in three games between the pipes during the 2010 season, recording 11 saves and earning a .733 save percentage. She stopped six shots on goal during a 1-0 win against Bucknell on Aug. 21.
After not playing in net during the 2011 season, Katie has played in 10 contests and started seven so far in her final campaign as a Bonnie. She has recorded three shutouts with 32 saves, earning a .653 save percentage.
Maureen Madden (#22)
Maureen Madden played in 11 games and earned two starts as a redshirt freshman in 2009. She made her first career start at Oakland University on Aug. 30. She made a great defensive play late in the game to help Bonaventure post a 1-0 shutout win over Bowling Green on Sept. 11. She returned to the starting lineup at home against Fordham on Nov. 1 where she recorded her only shot of the season.
Maureen started in four games in the 2010 and 2011 seasons combined. Her play helped the Bonnies clinch their fourth straight trip to the A-10 Championship in 2011.
So far in the 2012 season, Maureen has played in 16 games, starting 13 of them. During her final run as a Bonnie, she has been an integral part of the team's successful defense. In addition to helping them earn four shutout victories, Maureen had a key assist in a 1-0 win against Temple on Oct. 5.
Nicole Rosso (#5)
Nicole Rosso played in 19 games and started seven of them during her first season with the Brown and White. In 2009, Nicole had two points on the year, both of them coming off assists. Her second assist came during the Bonnies first goal in a 2-1 victory at Temple on Oct. 9.
Nicole played in 20 games in the 2010 season. She finished the year with three points, coming from one goal and two assists. Her goal, the first of her career, came on Oct. 17 in a 4-2 win against Fordham.
She played in 17 games the following season, starting one of them. The lone start came against Charlotte in a 1-1 double-overtime tie on Oct. 14. She scored one goal during her junior season, tallying the lone SBU goal against Colgate in a 2-1 loss on Sept. 23. In her final season with the Bonnies, Nicole has played in 10 games so far. She has made the most of her two shots, putting both of them on frame.
Jennifer Andrews (#33)
After gaining valuable experience as a reserve goalkeeper as a redshirt freshman in 2010, Jen Andrews played in her first game as a Bonnie in 2011 as a redshirt sophomore. She was honored with a selection to the Atlantic 10 Conference All-Academic Team. Jen played in eight games and made six starts for the Brown and White, winning three games and earning two ties in the six starts. She earned two shutouts, the first coming against George Washington on Sept. 30 and the second coming against Saint Louis on Oct. 16.
Jen made 27 saves during her 687 minutes in net during the 2011 season. After making just 10 saves in her first five games, she made 17 saves in her final three games. She allowed just seven goals in the eight games she played in, posting an impressive goals-against average of 0.92.
During her 2011 campaign, Jen played a key role in helping the Bonnies earn a record of 9-7-4 and clinch their fourth straight trip to the A-10 Championship.
Shannon Van Riper (#19)
Shannon Van Riper made a name for herself right out of the gate, starting three out of the opening six games her freshman season. Although her year was cut short because of a season-ending knee injury, she earned the Atlantic 10 Co-Rookie of the Week award after scoring two goals (one of them a game-winner) and adding an assist. For only playing in just six games, Shannon finished her freshman season with an impressive three goals and seven points.
Shannon returned in the 2009 season as a redshirt freshman and picked up right where she left off before her season-ending injury the previous year. Moving from forward to defender, she played in all 19 games, including 12 starts. She scored her lone goal of the season, which turned out to be a game-winner, at Bowling Green on Sept. 11.
Shannon started all but three games in the 2010 and 2011 seasons combined. In those two years, she recorded 23 shots with one goal and one assist. She also played a key role in SBU's defensive success during those two seasons, in which opposing teams averaged just 1.125 goals against the Bonnies. Additionally, she was named to the A-10 All-Championship Team in 2010.
Most importantly, though, she has been a rock for head coach Manoj Khettry in the central defense for the past four years, playing key roles in 22 total shutouts. Despite playing in the backline, Shannon leads the team in goals this year with four, and is second on the team in points with eight. Shannon has been a valuable piece of the Bonnies' soccer program for each of her five seasons wearing the Brown and White, and with a win today has an opportunity to advance to her fifth straight A-10 Championship appearance.
