Lacrosse: SBU looks to get over the hump with two home games

With only one win in eight games to start the season, it would seem as though the lacrosse team is struggling with a depleted roster and a new coach.However, the Bonnies have lost four games by one goal and two overtime games, showing some of the reason for their high loss total could be a lack of luck.

"We're right there," coach Christy Malone said. "Sometimes it is bad luck, but we need to keep fighting and keep moving on."

The Bonnies have a chance to move on with Atlantic 10 matchups against Richmond today at 4 p.m. and against George Washington Sunday at noon in home games at McGraw-Jennings Field.

"We're going to use a different game plan on attack," Malone said. "We want to be very aggressive and hopefully we can create more turnovers on defense."

Richmond is only 4-7 on the season but has lost to three nationally ranked teams, including Virginia and Maryland who were both ranked No. 2 at the time of their games. Oregon is the third ranked team to have beaten them, ranked No. 14 at the time. Oregon also defeated the Bonnies this season by a score of 11-10 in overtime March 26.

The Spiders started the season ranked No. 20 and have jumped as high as No. 18. They are 2-0 in the A-10 and this past week both junior attack Allison Furstenburg and freshman midfielder Anne Ryan were named the A-10 Player of the Week and A-10 Rookie of the Week, respectively.

"A win against Richmond would be big," Malone said. "If there was a year to beat them, I definitely think this is the year. It's not going to just be an average game for us, but our best of the year. We need to shut down two players and I think we'll be alright."

George Washington is 3-7 on the season but has also lost to three nationally ranked teams in No. 10 Georgetown, No. 9 Johns Hopkins and No. 15 George Mason.

The Colonials are 1-1 in the A-10 and are coming off a 9-8 overtime loss to Massachusetts, while the Bonnies dropped their A-10 opener against Temple last Friday, 10-8. The Owls scored six goals to end the first half and pull away to a 7-3 lead.

However, the Bonnies were able to cut the lead to 9-8 with 5:55 left, but could not convert any shots before the Owls scored a goal with three seconds remaining.

Senior co-captain midfielder Kim Ross and sophomore attack Patty Nessle had two goals and one assist each while freshman midfielder Christine Hanley scored two goals.

Against Saint Joseph's Sunday, the Bonnies lost 10-9 in double-overtime. The Bonnies trailed 4-1 at halftime but were able to tie the game at nine after Ross scored on an assist from fellow captain Brenna Houghton at the 5:49 mark and then again with 54 seconds left to send it into overtime.

However, the Hawks scored with 43 seconds left in the second overtime to win the game.

Ross scored three goals and had four assists, sending her over 100 points for her career and making her only the ninth player in program history to accomplish the feat. Houghton scored three goals and recorded two assists while Hanley and Nessle continued their stellar play with two points apiece.

The players said they need to play better at the beginning of games in order to keep themselves out of early deficits.

"We need to be challenged in order to play our best and that is one of our troubles right now," sophomore midfielder Ashley Fischer said.

Malone said, "We're coming out flat and taking a lot of shots but not using the best selection when taking them. The most important part is that we didn't give up."

Malone also said there are other things the team could improve on to give it a better chance at winning in these close games.

"We are turning the ball over in the midfield too much. We need less turnovers and less bad shots taken," she said.

Malone has been impressed with the two seniors Ross and Houghton, both of whom lead the team in points with 27 and 31, respectively.

"They step up at crucial times and show good leadership. They play with a sense of urgency knowing the game is close but I think we need that same kind of effort from others," Malone said.