The Massachusetts women’s soccer team won its seventh consecutive game Thursday afternoon at Rudd Field, taking down St. Bonaventure by a score of 1-0.

“I thought that we started pretty well,” said head coach Jason Dowiak. “We put them under pressure. It was a different look than we expected from what we saw in game film. They kind of sank in and defended in front of their box with a lot more numbers than we expected.”

The Minutewomen (8-2-0, 3-0-0 A10) were on the attack the whole game as they outshot the struggling Bonnies (0-8-4, 0-3-0 A10) by a 24-2 margin.

“We took a lot of shots from farther out today,” added Dowiak. “Would have been nicer if more of them had been more dangerous but looking for those opportunities was good. We talked about that at halftime so I think that was maybe more stuck in the girls’ brains.”

The lone goal of the game came in the 56th minute when junior midfielder Sini Laaksonen tapped in a loose ball just two yards outside the goal.

“We had a lot of people in the box,” said Laaksonen. “and I happened to be lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time.”

The play started when junior midfielder Sarah Beaulieu crossed the ball into the box. Freshman Lauren Bonavita then got a foot on it before Laaksonen put it past the goalkeeper. Both Beaulieu and Bonavita tallied assists on the play.

“At halftime, Jason told us to try to take it to the end line and cut in more,” said Beaulieu. “I just tried to follow his advice to get to the end line and then I played the ball across because I saw Lauren and Sini [in the box].”

The defense for the Minutewomen continued their strong play as the team notched their third shutout in a row with the 1-0 victory, thanks in large part to the possession of the defense who rarely turned it over.

“We’ve been training like that for a while now so I think that confidence is really high in that aspect [of the game],” said defender Jenna Thomas. “We feel comfortable with the ball at our feet, we want it at our feet. We think that the midfield’s movement has been great so they give us options.”

The Minutewomen hope to use the momentum they’ve gained from the first three games of conference play throughout the remainder of the season.

“I think we need to keep working hard and realize that every game is a hurdle in itself,” said Laaksonen. “We just need to keep taking it one game at a time and focusing on one opponent at a time.”

The Minutewomen have outscored their opponents 25-1 during their seven-game win streak. They look to continue that trend when they travel to Philadelphia to take on La Salle Sunday afternoon.

Ethan Nash can be reached at [email protected] and followed on twitter @emnash15.