VCU women’s lacrosse takes down St. Bonaventure, celebrates seniors

Thai Wilson, Contributing Writer

The black and gold women’s lacrosse won 16-6 against the St. Bonaventure University Bonnies on Saturday afternoon at Cary Street Field.

The game was also VCU’s “Senior Day,” where the team celebrated the seniors for their achievements and final home appearance.

VCU head coach Nicole Flores said she was pleased with the team’s performance after it fell short in its previous game against Davidson on Thursday, April 14.

“We played a really tough battle on Thursday and didn’t quite get the result we wanted. Today, we got the result we wanted,” Flores said. “We had great production from our senior class as well as a lot of others and just a lot of right things cooking at the right time.” 

Before the game started, VCU announced the lineups and highlighted the seniors who were playing their final home game for the Rams. 

VCU senior midfielder Savannah Slack was honored as captain of the Rams. Her other teammates were announced for the starting lineup of the game, honoring their senior status.

Slack said she had been looking forward to this game and was excited from performing well to cap off Senior Day.

“It was the best day ever. I couldn’t have asked for a better senior day,” Slack said. “It’s just great to have all the seniors on the field together at one time.” 

The first quarter started off at a standstill for two minutes until VCU junior attacker Juliana George scored the first goal of the game for the Rams.

St. Bonaventure followed up with a goal of its own to tie the game at 1-1 with seven minutes to spare in the first quarter.

To end the first quarter, VCU came back and scored two goals in the final minute of play as Juliana George and freshman attacker Mia George hit the back of the net.

VCU dominated the second quarter, scoring five goals to St. Bonaventure’s one. The Rams outshot St. Bonaventure 24-9 in the first half. VCU senior attacker Abby Osmeyer had two of the five goals to give VCU a six point lead. Osmeyer said she was happy to score many goals for the black and gold on her Senior Day.

“I wanted to go out with a bang for sure and just go out there and have fun,” Osmeyer said. “When I am having fun, that’s when the goals come.”

The third quarter started with another goal from Juliana George. The Bonnies answered right back, scoring uncontested goals by sophomore attacker Abby Hiltz and sophomore midfielder Maddie Mazur. 

The Rams scored two unanswered goals by midfielder Slack and attacker Juliana George at the end of the third quarter. The goal by Juliana George marked her 31st goal on the season, according to VCU Athletics. Juliana George said she is happy to contribute to the team and do what she is meant to do.

“It’s exciting to know that I’m out here doing what my team wants me to do. I am doing my job,” George said.

The black and gold went into the fourth quarter with a 12-5 lead. VCU graduate defender Ali Zadeh opened up the fourth quarter with a goal for the Rams, adding another point to its lead. 

St. Bonaventure junior midfielder Nora Anderson scored a goal right afterwards to cut the Rams’ lead to six. 

VCU redshirt junior goalkeeper Meghna Dawar continued to shut down the net for the rest of the game, not allowing any more goals to enter the back of the net. Slack said the team’s confidence and familiarity was key for its defense to operate so fluidly against the Bonnies.

“Our communication and just everyone being on the same page and we all went in and just were excited to shut them down,” Slack said. 

The black and gold went on to score three unanswered goals to end the game at a score of 16-6.

After the game, VCU congratulated the seniors by giving them plaques and announcing their academic and sports achievements to end off Senior Day. VCU senior attacker Osmeyer said the moment was bittersweet, but she believes the program is in good hands for the future.

“I am so confident with the people that I am leaving here. I think that they are going to do incredible things for the program and I think that personally they’re all gonna go on to be great people,” Osmeyer said.

Coach Flores said she is grateful the team were able to win the Senior Day, and looks forward to the black and gold’s final game, which the team will have to win to advance to the A-10 tournament.

“Win, we got to win to make the tournament. So that’s our step is to win and execute our everyday plans,” Flores said.

The black and gold will face off against George Washington University in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, April 23 at the George Washington-Mount Vernon Athletic Complex.