Still a positive result as HC Giordano eyes growth in team
By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — The St. Bonaventure men’s soccer team had its game against Mercyhurst in the palm of its hands.
The Bonnies controlled possession, were methodical in their build-up play, had a surplus of attacking opportunities in their opponent’s defensive third, and even held an advantage in the number of men on the field for a good portion of the afternoon.
The only thing that was missing was a finishing touch as Bona and Mercyhurst settled for a 0-0 tie on Aug. 31. The final scoreline does not fully illustrate the level as to which the Bonnies controlled the affair, but notably head coach Mick Giordano was not upset after the final whistle. Instead, he focused on the improvements that his side have made and noted that sometimes a result such as this one, just happens.
“Number one, it’s another clean sheet,” Giordano said. “When we start off the year giving six goals up in two games, another clean sheet (is important). We continue to go, we continue to believe and grow as a group. We had a couple guys missing today, but we just kept going with the next-man-up mentality, and we had a really good performance. Sometimes football happens and you don’t find the winner, but it’s alright. It’s not bad, you can’t be displeased. We’ve just got to make sure we just continue to take our steps forward. And with another clean sheet and a good performance, we’ve done that today.”
The improvements are evident. In just the four games that Giordano has coached in his Bona tenure, the control his side has over the ball and their ability to impose their will on a game has grown significantly, no matter what personnel is on the field.
The Bonnies put that on full display against the Lakers as they only conceded one shot on target to their opposition all afternoon.
“It’s been a next-man-up mentality the entire time,” Giordano said. “It doesn’t matter who’s been in, everyone has stepped up, and everyone’s continued to drive forward. … We did control the tempo, we got ourselves loose a little bit, which we’ll have to continue to fix as we go to Le Moyne on Wednesday, but I’m really, really pleased just with the boys continuing to step forward and continuing to believe in themselves and what we can do.”
St. Bonaventure forward Seth Hammond (10) chases down a ball in the Mercyhurst penalty box. (St. Bonaventure Athletics)
Bona’s first major chance of the day came in the 21st minute as Brendan Sheehan’s shot — that had beaten the Mercyhurst goalkeeper — was saved off the line by a defender. This was not the only time a goalline clearance saved the Lakers either. In the 63rd minute, Seth Hammond also had a shot on target cleared over the crossbar at the last moment.
But perhaps the most gut-wrenching of all the chances Bona had seen narrowly missed, was that of Ricardo Rittersberger Galan. With nine minutes left to play, Galan did extremely well to hold off a Mercyhurst defender draped on his back and get a shot off, one that rocketed off the inside of the right goalpost and out.
The missed chances were the story of the game and the image of Galan with his head in his hands, in shock with how his shot did not bulge the Lakers’ net summed up the afternoon for the Bonnies. But Giordano was left relatively unbothered by the conversion rate of his team. His spin was getting those kinds of chances is difficult, and so long as his squad can continue to create those opportunities, it is only a matter of time before the goals start coming.
“Sometimes you need a little bit of luck, you need it to fall your way,” Giordano said. “Sometimes you get it, sometimes you don’t. The main thing is that we created the chances. As long as we’re creating the chances, then we can make sure that they fall. If we can’t create the chances, then we stand no chance. We did that today.”
The second half of the fixture was much more emotionally charged as Bona was scratching and clawing for every opportunity it could muster in hopes for a dramatic game-winner and Mercyhurst looked to escape with the draw after being under incredible duress and going down to nine men on the field for the final five minutes of action.
There was some chippiness and a combined total of 10 cards were issued over the course of the game, but Giordano applauded the way his team managed their emotions in those desperate minutes.
“(Mercyhurst) wanted to make sure everything was at a slow, slow tempo, take a little bit extra time with all the stuff,” Giordano said. “And our guys were able to continue to keep the foot on the throat and keep going and trying to keep the tempo high. So I certainly can’t complain.”
St. Bonaventure midfielder Gabriel Addo (7) brings the ball upfield against Mercyhurst. (St. Bonaventure Athletics)
The tie moves Bona to 1-2-1 on the season, and while the tally does not go in the win column, it is a positive result for Giordano, who has seen nothing but positivity and growth in his squad in the early days of the season.
“I mean, if you look at Mercyhurst and what they’ve done, they drew Robert Morris early on in the year, 0-0, and Robert Morris goes on and draws Duquesne away,” Giordano said. “So when we start talking about A10 play and common opponents, it’s not a bad group by any means. It’s a positive step for us. Every single day we get to be together has been positive and a positive step for us. It’s just about continuing to believe in what can be done and have a little bit of grit to us and then find a way to recover and go again.”
For its next game, St. Bonaventure will travel to face Le Moyne on Sept. 3 at 4 p.m.
