Did St. Bonaventure put it all together perfectly or did Brown lose the plot?
Maybe it was a bit of both. As the NCR Men’s D1 semifinals loom talk is still about how the defending champion Brown side faltered to the tune of 51-7 to Bonnies in the quarterfinals. Bonnies winning wasn’t the surprise, it was the manner of the winning.
It was only the second loss in 15s for Brown in the last four years, during which they have won two NCR titles.
“We had a ton of possession the first 20 minutes and every time we made a mistake, they capitalized on it. Credit to them for that,” Brown Head Coach David LaFlamme told GRR. “We just struggled to connect the dots on anything we attempted to do.”
Some dependable players had an off day and Brown had to make some lineup changes, too, but LaFlamme said St Bonaventure was the better side.
“In the end, I feel Bonnies would have edged us out had we played better, but the scoreline should have been less dramatic. I guess we were bound to underperform one game eventually... Unfortunately this was the one.”
For St. Bonaventure, they bring a strong kicking game led by Noah Edwards, Koen Webb, and Troy Herldt, and they add to that some powerful attacking talents such as Niku Otinero and Manu Taula. With a strong tight five they have good bones.
Bonnies plays a Walsh side that may not have won NCR’s D1, but what was essentially their program won it all as Notre Dame College two years ago. Yes there has been a lot of turnover but this Cavaliers team carries the same attitude—they don’t get discouraged; they shrug off setbacks; they play tough in the scrum and maul; they punish mistakes.
Steph Herbst plays hard in the midfield. Wing/fullback Ayabonga Mkhokeli is super fast and can attack from anywhere. GRR spoke with the Walsh players after their in-season loss to Belmont Abbey, and they were angry, not at each other, but at themselves. They will not be fun to play against.
