ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – The St. Bonaventure women's soccer team suffered a 1-0 setback against VCU on Sunday afternoon at the Marra Athletics Complex in its first Atlantic 10 matchup of the year.
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The Bonnies (3-4-2, 0-1 A-10) fell behind early after Jensyn Lins, the Rams' leading scorer, broke through the hosts' back line and found the right corner of the net in the 18
th minute for the game's lone goal.
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Bona would not see many opportunities to even the odds during the remainder of the first half as the visitors dominated possession and kept the ball in their attacking zone. At the break, VCU owned the advantage in shots, 10-0.
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The Brown and White exited the locker room with a newfound energy as they were able to affect the flow of the game and retain more possession, however the Rams' defense stayed strong throughout a busy second stanza. In the 54th minute, sophomore
Ekemini Udofa broke loose on a fast break and had eyes for goal, but her shot was stonewalled. Later in the half, freshman
Kacy Kuehl had a slight edge on a breakaway, but just as she attempted to switch to her dominant foot for a blast, a last-second challenge in the box ended the chance.
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Sophomore goalkeeper
Adelaide Paredes made her first start of the season and played full time in the match, making six total saves and confidently directing traffic from the box. She is now the third Bonaventure goalkeeper to make a start this year.
Mia Pongratz earned the shutout win in net for VCU (3-5-2, 1-0).
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QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH MELISSA SHERWOOD
"We have a lot of transfers. We have a lot of players who just had their first time out in the A-10. So with that, there comes a little bit of anticipation, or surprise factor. They don't know what they're going to get or what to expect. I think maybe with that, they get a realization today that maybe the opponent is in the A-10, but we are capable. I think we hopefully got rid of that today, and we know that we can compete."
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UP NEXT
The Bonnies are scheduled to hit the road this upcoming week, traveling to Davidson on Thursday before returning to the Marra Athletics Complex on Sunday to host Rhode Island.
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