ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – Visiting VCU got off to a hot start and never relinquished control as the Rams took a 15-6 decision on a cold Saturday afternoon at the Marra Athletics Complex.
 
Despite a hat trick from senior captain Brooke Piper, the early surge of scoring from the Rams (5-3, 1-1 A-10) would be too much for the Bonnies (5-5, 1-1 A-10) to overcome later in the contest. Freshman Riley Milligan also scored two goals in the game, and Gracie Williams added to the first-year success with her fourth goal of the season.
 
Prior to the opening faceoff, the Bonnies honored their eight graduating seniors in the Class of 2026: Megan Schillinger, Rylee Gonzalez, Payton Klepacki, Emma Hollenbeck, Grace Hollenbeck, Kate Hennessey, Brooke Piper and Brit Colangelo.
 
VCU rattled off three straight goals to open the contest, scrambling the hosts' game plan early. Though Piper found her first score of the day around the six-minute mark in the first quarter, the Rams had prior momentum and carried it forward with a fourth goal before the buzzer.
 
The Rams entered the second quarter with that same energy and rattled off eight straight goals. With about five minutes to go until halftime, the final score of that run came courtesy of Annika Bennett and moved the Bonnies' deficit to 11-1. Though Piper scored her second goal of the game on a free position shot with a minute and a half to go until the break, the hosts were still down by an intimidating nine goals entering the third quarter.
 
The Brown and White recuperated during the break and was able to play much better in the second half, the Rams' lead was too much to overcome. The Bonnies played at an even pace with their competition in the second half with the programs scoring four goals each. Bona's second half scores came off the sticks of Milligan and Williams as well as Piper, who completed her hat trick late in the third quarter.
 
GAME NOTES

• Piper finished the game with 154 career goals, tying Christine Hanley, '11, for the all-time program record.
• SBU posted an 86.7 percent success rate on clears, going 13-for-15.
• VCU finished with a 30-19 margin in shots while causing 15 SBU turnovers. The Bonnies led in groundballs, 14-13.
• The Brown and White converted on all three of their free position shots.
• Junior Olivia Peeler caused three turnovers and secured three groundballs in the contest.
• Senior captain Kate Hennessey posted three groundballs. 
• Judy Mahoney posted seven saves in net. 

 
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH LEIGHANN STAUFFER
"We've just got to come out hotter than we did. There were a lot of emotions before the game, myself included. That couldn't have gone any worse to be quite honest with you. We needed to come out hotter and have the mindset that any team can be beaten on any given day, and we didn't do that today."
 
"I'm very proud of [our seniors] every day. I know that this loss hurts and sucks, but I love them unconditionally. They've done an amazing job of paving the way for everybody to come after them and for us to be successful. At the end of the day, I'm very proud of them and I love them."
 
UP NEXT
SBU returns to action this upcoming Wednesday when the team hosts Duquesne at 3:00 p.m. at the Marra Athletics Complex for another Atlantic 10 contest.
 
 
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