[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”8″ gal_title=”Womens soccer vs. St. Bonaventure”]
This past Sunday, the Saint Joseph’s University women’s soccer team defeated St. Bonaventure University 2-1 on their home turf while celebrating Senior Day. The win sealed their undefeated regular season of Atlantic 10 play, and this past Thursday’s win against the University of Massachusetts earned them the top seed in the conference tournament.
The scoring started early when freshman Gabrielle Vagnozzi broke away from a defender on the outside and chipped the ball into the middle where the Bonnies’ goalkeeper bobbled the ball, giving sophomore Dakota Mills the opportunity to find the back of the net in the 2nd minute of play.
The goal gave Mills two school records: the most goals and points scored in a single season.
“It’s nice to have it [the record] with this team,” Mills said. “I feel really close to this team, so it feels really special to share it with them.”
The Hawks continued to press on the Bonnies’ defense, especially on the left side where Vagnozzi and Mills continued to break from their defenders.
St. Bonaventure answered back with a goal in the 15th minute, but St. Joe’s wasted no time taking back the lead.
The Hawks earned a penalty kick in the 17th minute and Mills capitalized on the opportunity to net her second goal of the game.
“It was important to get a win going into A-10’s,” Mills said. “I just knew we had to score these goals to go into Rhode Island on a positive note.”
No more goals were scored in the game, but there were a lot of close calls with St. Joe’s outshooting St. Bonaventure 22-8 throughout the game.
Each side had their share of breakaways, but the Hawks’ defense and sophomore goalkeeper Grace Bendon were able to control the Bonnies’ offense, especially in the final minutes of the game as they scrambled for a late goal.
Sunday’s win was important in and of itself, but it was a little more special with the occasion of senior day.
“We always feel that getting this win for the seniors is special,” Head Coach Jess Mannella said. “These three seniors in particular [Shannon Mulvey, Meghan DiPippa, and Emily Gingrich] have played in every minute of every game that they could have, so it was really nice to get the win for them.”
This team is the first in the women’s soccer program’s history to be regular season champions. Mannella recognizes the dynamic of the team that made this accomplishment possible.
“Every year, we’ve been really close,” Mannella said. “But this year, we have that team that takes us to the next level; we have great leadership and we’ve prepared really well.”
Mannella also credits the amount of talent the team has in bringing them to this milestone.
“We don’t rely on one person to score, because we have several people scoring in every game,” Mannella said.
The Hawks are confident in their ability to carry their winning streak into post-season play.
“We’ve been taking every game one game at a time, and to me, that’s a good sign going into the tournament, because we know that every time it’s a new game.” Mannella said. “Now, it’s one and done, so we hope to carry this momentum into the Atlantic 10’s.”
The Hawks move into the A-10 tournament on Thursday, November 3 at the University of Rhode Island at 5 p.m. against the eighth-seeded Rhode Island.
“We’re excited to go into Rhode Island and bring back the trophy,” Mills said.
