The Youngstown State dropped a tough 13-10 contest to the St. Bonaventure Bonnies on Saturday afternoon inside the Watson and Tressel Training Site.
It was a tale of two halves, as the Penguins used a 4-0 second quarter output to take a 7-4 lead into halftime, but St. Bonaventure responded by outscoring the Penguins 9-3 in the second half to secure the road victory.
Claire Baenziger and Ava Kreutzer led YSU with two goals each. Lena Cox, Sami Drew, Katie Grottenthaler, Brooke Peck, Grace Rund, and Mia Yuris each scored one goal on the day.
Brooke Harper got the start in the cage for Youngstown State and saved a season-high eight St. Bonaventure shots.
Genna Cooke and Katie Grottenthaler each set new career-highs with four ground balls.
St. Bonaventure controlled the possession for most of the game, as they won the draw control battle 19-8. The Bonnies also outshot the Penguins 33-25.
YSU did play a cleaner game offensively, only turning the ball over nine times, compared to 18 turnovers for the Bonnies.
The Penguins jumped out to an early lead, as Sami Drew netted the first goal of the game with 13:32 remaining in the first quarter, followed quickly by an Ava Kreutzer goal with the Penguins a player-up with 12:25 remaining, giving YSU a quick 2-0 lead. St. Bonaventure got on the board with 10:56 left in the opening quarter as Megan Schillinger found the back of the net, but Lena Cox put the Penguins back up by two goals as she scored while falling to the ground with 7:54 left in the opening quarter, making the score 3-1. St. Bonaventure would then score the next three goals, giving them a 4-3 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was all YSU, as the Penguins would score four goals while holding the Bonnies scoreless for the entirety of the quarter. Brooke Peck found the back of the net for the ninth time this season and first time during the game with 10:56 left in the quarter, followed by Claire Baenziger finding the back of the net with 5:21 left, Kreutzer's second goal with 4:08 left, and Grace Rund wrapped up the second-quarter scoring with 1:10 left until halftime when she scored her first goal of the season to give the Penguins a 7-4 advantage heading into the break.
St. Bonaventure would come out of halftime with a third quarter offensive explosion, netting five goals inside of the first 10 minutes of the quarter, thrusting the score back to 9-7 in their favor. YSU would score their lone goal of the third quarter when Claire Baenziger would take advantage of the Penguins being a player-up and score her second goal of the game and team-leading 11th goal of the season to make it a one-goal deficit with 4:54 remaining in the third quarter.
The Bonnies would score the last two goals of the third quarter and first goal of the fourth to make it a 12-8 score with 12:34 remaining in regulation. Like Wednesday vs. Duquesne, the Penguins would attempt a late-game comeback, as Mia Yuris netted her third goal of the season with 4:41 remaining, and Katir Grottenthaler would score her 10th goal of the season soon after with 2:54 left, but it was too little, too late. The Bonnies added one more goal with 24 seconds remaining, holding on for a 13-10 victory.
YSU now falls to 1-3 on the season, and will close out their five-game homestand to begin the season vs. Butler on Friday, Feb. 28 at the Watson and Tressel Training Site. The opening draw is set for 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the Youngstown State Penguins YouTube page. Fans in attendance will receive a Pete the Penguin Growth Chart, courtesy of State Farm, Compco, and 21WFMJ.
