1,403 days. That’s a long time.

Coming into Sunday’s season opener for the  women’s lacrosse team at Thomas More, that’s how long it had been since the Jackets had won a game. With a 7-5 win over the Saints, Waynesburg finally put this long-standing skid behind them.

“It’s big,” coach Gennaro Bonaventura said. “There have definitely been games in that losing streak that we could have won. We just couldn’t get it done.”

The win snapped a 45-game losing streak for the program. Prior to Sunday, the last win for the team came April 20, 2016, It was also the first win for Bonaventura, since taking over as the coach before the 2018 season. Though the win had historic significance, Bonaventura always knew the Yellow Jackets had potential for this season.

“We’ve had a good preseason,” Bonaventura said. “We brought a pretty good recruiting class in, and thought they would help with the mix of upperclassmen we have.”

Junior Bre Martini  had three goals for Waynesburg, as did freshman Eve O’Sullivan. Sophomore Kristyn Byler also had a goal for Waynesburg. Bonaventura has a positive outlook on what Byler will do this season.

“Kristyn Byler is going to score a lot of goals this year,” Bonaventura said. “She was a freshman last year and she’s still learning. But she’s a really good athlete and is ready to take that next step this year.”

The Jackets were also able to reverse the result from last season against Thomas More, a 9-7 loss at home. 

“The girls had confidence going into the game that they could get it done,” Bonaventura said. “It was a battle. At the end of the day we made more plays.”

Despite the win, Bonaventura thinks the Jackets will only improve as the season progresses.

“It’s good going into the next game being 1-0 instead of 0-1,” he  said. “We didn’t even play close to our best. We made a lot of mistakes and had a lot of turnovers. You’ll have that with the first game.”

With a positive record, Waynesburg will host Muskingum Tuesday, March 10. They’ll look to snap another long-term skid, 27-straight home losses.

“Now that it’s all come together we know how to get it done,” Bonaventura said.  “I think you could see a special season out of us this year if we stick with it, and keep getting better each week.”