Spiders cruise past St. Bonaventure

The Spiders cruised to a 17-9 win over St. Bonaventure University on March 30 to stay first-ranked in the A-10 conference.

Junior attacker Colleen Quinn kicked things off for the Spiders early, scoring in a matter of seconds. The Bonnies were quick to respond with two goals of their own, however, and the Spiders found themselves down 2-1 halfway through the quarter despite a far heavier offensive presence.

The floodgates opened for the Spiders with 6:14 to go in the first quarter, as senior attacker Ali Susskind kicked off a 9-1 run for UR that saw five different Spiders find the net. Despite holding a narrow 21-16 shot advantage on the half, it was the Spiders outdoing the Bonnies in other areas that was key; UR corralled 15 ground balls to the Bonnies’ 8, while first-year goalie Abby Francioli’s 8 saves numbered twice as many as for the Bonnies.

“It was not just the ball being controlled on the offensive end,” UR Head Coach Anne Harrington said in a postgame interview. “We were putting up goals which was awesome, but defense was coming up with some big stops as we got more and more unified as the game went on.”

The Spiders’ offensive efforts sagged out of halftime, with the third quarter accounting for only 3 of UR’s 36 total shots. Despite the reduced pressure – culminating in just one free position goal from sophomore attacker Alexis Morton – the Bonnies could hardly cut into the Spiders lead, as Francioli came up with several brilliant saves, allowing just 2 goals.

The fourth quarter was a return to form for the Spiders, carried by first-year attacker Amadi Higgins, midfielder Lindsey Wright and redshirt first-year midfielder Emma Kroneberger, who all notched their first career goals during this stretch of play. Recording as many as they had in the previous three quarters combined, 9 total draw controls also swung momentum squarely back in favor of UR.

Although the Bonnies nearly kept pace with 4 fourth-quarter goals to UR’s 6, the Spiders had done far too much damage early to come back from. Morton tallied her third goal of the match to put the game away, joining Quinn and junior midfielder Grace Muldoon as the third Spider to record a hat trick in the contest.

With the win, the Spiders moved to 5-0 within the conference, tied with the University of Massachusetts for the top spot. 

“After every game, we’re talking about still undefeated in the A-10, still undefeated at home,” Muldoon said in a postgame interview. “So we’re just making sure, keeping that at the top of our minds. That’s our goal for the season.”

The Spiders will next face off against the 9th-ranked James Madison University Dukes at home at 4 p.m on Apr. 3.

Contact sports writer Scott Valentine at scott.valentine@richmond.edu.