Bonnies drop heartbreaker at Albany :: One-goal contest decided in final minutes

March 16, 2008

ALBANY, N.Y. - After storming back to take its first lead of the game with six minutes remaining, the St. Bonaventure lacrosse team saw Albany tally the final to goals en route to an 11-10 win on a chilly Sunday afternoon.

The game was originally scheduled to be played at Alfred University as a home game for the Bonnies, but unplayable conditions at Merril Field caused the game to be moved to Albany.

Despite the change in location, most of the offensive statistics went in favor of the Brown and White except a glaring 17-6 deficit in draw controls. Of Albany's 11 goals, 10 of them came after claiming possession on the draw control.

St. Bonaventure peppered Great Dane goalie Katie Neer with a season-best 44 shots. Neer was up to the challenge, making 18 saves to lead the home to its fifth win (5-2) of the season. Neer was especially impressive on free position shots, allowing St. Bonaventure to convert on 3-of-18 attempts.

Senior Eboni Preston was almost as busy as Neer in the cage, as she picked up her first double-figure save performance of the season with 11 stops. Preston also faired well against free position shots, stopping 6-of-8.

The Bonnies also owned a 33-20 advantage in ground balls and committed six less turnovers, but it wasn't enough as they fell to 1-3.

A quartet of Bonnies finished with two goals as six different players found the back of the net. Seniors Kimberly Ross and Brenna Houghton were among the players with two goals, and were joined by Keri Vito and Christine Hanley.

Albany took a commanding 5-2 lead in the opening 11 minutes of the game, squeezing the first two goals of the game and a 3-0 run around a pair of free position scores by Hanley.

The Bonnies cut it to a one-goal game on a couple of occasions in the first half as Ross and Vito answered the first time with back-to-back goals to make it 5-4. Vito's goal came off a feed from sophomore Patty Nessle.

Albany's Jodi Battaglia pushed the deficit back to three, 7-4, with two-straight scores that were separated by just 18 seconds.

Behind sophomore Ashley Fischer's first career goal and a tally from Houghton, the Brown and White climbed back to within one, 7-6, with 7:17 left in the half.

The final stretch of the opening 30 minutes featured just one more goal by Albany as the home team took an 8-6 lead into the break.

Led by its seniors, a determined Bonnies team came out and controlled a much slower-paced second half. Unlike the first half, the final frame failed to produce a goal until the 17-minute mark as Houghton opened things with her second of the game. Senior Stephanie Jordan tied the score at 8-8 just 28 second later with a goal off a pass from Vito. Ross completed the seniors 3-0 run with her second of the game at the 13:02 mark to give the Bonnies their first lead, at 9-8.

After Ross controlled the ensuing draw control, Houghton nearly tallied her third goal of the game, but her shot rang-off the post. Albany scooped up the ground ball and took it the length of the field and tied the game at 9-9 with 11:41 to go.

The next five minutes saw each team hold possession of the ball with several shots. The Great Danes fired three shots at Preston but failed to find the back of the net. The Bonnies countered Albany shooting barrage as freshman Catie Greene found Vito for the go-ahead goal with 6:09 left.

The momentum quickly left the St. Bonaventure sideline as Albany collected the next two draw controls and promptly scored on both possessions. The pair of goals culminated with 3:51 left and saw the Great Danes holding an 11-10 lead.

A wild final three minutes saw both teams commit several turnovers. The Bonnies established a productive possession with just 20 second remaining, but saw Ross' shot sail high and Houghton's gathered by Neer.

St. Bonaventure will be back in action six days from now when it travels to Columbus, Ohio, to take on Ohio State. The game is scheduled for a noon start.