Oct. 18, 2002

KINGSTON, R.I. - The University of Rhode Island women's soccer team dropped a hard-fought 2-1 decision against St. Bonaventure in an Atlantic 10 contest in Olean, N.Y. on Friday afternoon The loss was the Rams first in Atlantic 10 play.

Rhode Island jumped on the board when freshman Melanie Kasparek grabbed a rebounded shot in the box and fed it to her twin sister, freshman Megan Kasparek to give the Rams a 1-0 lead in the 34th minute.

With 15 seconds remaining in the first half, St. Bonaventure junior forward Lisa Nicola took the assist from junior Erin Johnson and scored from 20 yards out to tie the game 1-1.

The game-winning goal came at the 83:52 mark when freshman Kara Fleet scored an unassisted goal from 15 yards out. Rhode Island outshot St. Bonaventure by a 17-4 margin in the setback. Senior keeper Jamie Epperlein made three saves in goal for Rhode Island.

With the loss, Rhode Island falls to 9-4-1, 5-1 in the Atlantic 10 while St. Bonaventure improves to 8-5, 3-3 in league play. The Rams will return to action on Sunday, Oct. 20 when they travel to Duquesne for an A-10 matchup with the Dukes at 1:00 p.m.