The University of Rhode Island women’s soccer team split a pair of home games last week, falling 2-1 to Saint Bonaventure University on Thursday night before tying its senior day matchup vs. Saint Joseph’s University Hawks, 1-1, on Sunday.
In the second minute of the loss vs. St. Bonaventure, fourth-year forward Tierra Garniss intercepted the ball from the Bonnies and passed it up the right side of the field to fifth-year forward Sam Hagerty. Hagerty then found second-year forward Lauren MacDonald in the Bonnies box, and MacDonald connected, firing a shot into the net to give the Rams a 1-0 lead.
Rhode Island’s lead was short lived, however, after a St. Bonaventure kick from their side of the field went towards Rams first-year goalkeeper Chelsea Mohammed. Mohammed left the box and forced the ball away, but the rebound fell to Bonnies first-year midfielder Torrie Grant-Clavijo. Mohammed tried returning to the box, but Grant-Claviljo launched the ball past Mohammed’s outstretched hands and scored in the 16th minute, tying the game at 1-1.
In the second half, the Rams kept pressure on St. Bonaventure until the 74th minute. Fourth-year Bonnies defender Bridget Kennedy booted the ball back to Rhode Island’s side of the field with the ball landing and rolling towards Rams second-year Allison Gilbert. Then, Mohammed was given a yellow card for picking up a back pass from Gilbert, which forced a St. Bonaventure indirect free kick inside the 18-yard box. Bonnies fifth-year midfielder Thea Juul took the free kick and fired the ball past a defensive line of Rams players and into the back of the net, giving the Bonnies a 2-1 win.
After the game, URI Head Coach Megan Jessee and MacDonald both said they were a little frustrated that the team didn’t take St. Bonaventure seriously enough.
“[We can improve on] the attitude of going into this game, because we knew that St. Bonnies had not won a game yet in [the Atlantic 10] conference, and we we’re stepping onto the field thinking that we already had the advantage,” MacDonald said. “We should never step on [the field] with that attitude.”
The Rams fell to a 6-7-2 record, losing just their second game at home. The Bonnies earned their first Atlantic 10 conference win this season and improved to 2-11-2 on the season.
The Rams returned home for Senior Day on Sunday against Saint Joseph’s. Similar to St. Bonaventure, the game got off to a quick start. Two minutes in, the Hawks defense kicked a deep ball to URI’s offensive half of the field, causing Mohammed to come out of the box and attempt to make a play on the ball. However, the ball got past Mohammed and towards Hawks first-year forward Sarah Fisher, who tapped home the first goal of the game on a wide open net from close range.
The Hawks led 1-0 until the 13th minute, when the Rams regained possession with Gilbert kicking the ball deep into Hawks territory. The ball landed at the feet of MacDonald, who drove up the right side of the field and delivered a cross across the Hawks box. On the receiving end of the pass, Hagerty tied the game after the ball bounced off her knee and into the net at the back post.
“I feel good about the goal,’’ said Hagerty. “I wish we could have gotten more but, one point is pretty good.”
The two goals would be the only scoring action as the game ended 1-1.
“We’re creating a lot of chances, just need that little bit more composure in the final third,” Jessee said. “But we’re dominating games, and, so we’re playing really well right now. A lot of our players are playing with a lot of confidence, so we just need to keep it going.”
After playing the Bonnies and Hawks, Rhode Island fired 44 shots, allowed three goals and only scored one goal per game.
Up next, Rhode Island will host its final home game of the regular season against the Loyola Chicago Ramblers on Oct. 24 at 7:00 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+, and a radio broadcast is available on RIU2.org.