For the heart of the St. Bonaventure men's lacrosse team, the 2022 season marks the culmination of a process that began over 1,200 days ago.

Well, 1,269 days to be exact.

It's a total Bonnies head coach Randy Mearns knows well. One his players reference, too.

"It's been a long journey," Mearns says. 

When St. Bonaventure's initial recruiting class first stepped on campus in August 2018, a group of 34 first-year players set the foundation for a new program playing at the Division I level for the first time.

That group took the vision of University administrators, alumni, fans and former players who played the sport in prior iterations of Bonnies men's lacrosse in the 1980s and 90s and even dating as far back as the 50s and set the goal of competing for championships before their time at SBU was done.

Twenty-one members of that original recruiting class remain and enter this spring now as seniors, leading a program on the rise after an impressive 2021.

Oh, there have been the expected bumps along the way.

St. Bonaventure lost its first 19 games – an 0-13 2019 campaign before a six-game shortened 2020 season – as the Bonnies were often undersized and nearly always tremendously less experienced compared to the opposition. Of course, there was the unexpected obstacle of COVID-19 that also wiped away nearly a year of development.

But instead of opting to build that first squad with transfers and upperclassmen, head coach Randy Mearns and his staff went nearly exclusively with freshmen the first year. The only exceptions to an all-freshman lineup were two transfers, including current volunteer assistant coach Nik Clinton and Daire Newbrough, the program's first NLL Draft pick last year, and two players elevated from the existing club team. Expectedly, that led to some real growing pains, but by the time the second season rolled around, real improvement could be seen.

Then, the pandemic brought everything to a halt.

When the Bonnies returned in 2021, the light truly came on.

St. Bonaventure wasted no time getting into the win column in its return to play, scoring an emphatic 13-6 triumph at Quinnipiac to begin the year. That win would set the stage for a 5-5 season, including a victory in the program's first postseason game, 11-8, over Detroit Mercy on home turf. The season would end one step shy of a conference title game appearance, falling at eventual MAAC champion Monmouth in the semifinals, a squad that had beaten the Bonnies by just one goal earlier in the season.

Bona finished the campaign with a top-10 defense nationally, multiple all-conference selections including its first MAAC Player of the Year award, and with its arrow unquestionably pointing upward.

So, when the 2022 season officially begins Feb. 12 at Saint Joseph's, or 1,269 days after that first day on campus, the goals of those then baby-faced freshmen who today are seasoned seniors appear firmly within grasp.

"We've tried to get better every day and keep our expectations realistic," Mearns said. "We knew it would be a process to build this program, but we feel very excited about our roster going into Year Four. Kudos to the 21 guys of the original 34 who wanted to live this dream together and have built the culture and framework for our program."

The funny thing about the passage of time for this group: easily the most inexperienced group in the nation three years ago, and with the third-most freshmen in Division I history, St. Bonaventure begins this year as the nation's most senior-laden.

Not only that, a recruiting class that brought in a dozen new players makes this easily the deepest group of Bonnies yet.

"We feel we are deeper everywhere on all sides of the ball," Mearns said. "Every game last year, the confidence started to grow and we hit the ground running in the fall, so much further ahead and not putting in systems but fine-tuning them."

LAST YEAR, the success began with one of the nation's stingiest defenses. During the regular season, the Bonnies ranked fourth in the country in scoring defense, allowing 8.7 goals per game and trailing only Georgetown, Monmouth and Notre Dame in that category. Bona also ranked among the nation's best in penalty kill, ranking sixth with a 74 percent success rate in killing off penalties.

Much of that success began in the cage with senior Brett Dobson, who unsurprisingly was the program's first building block. Bona's first commit and a man Mearns calls the best goalie in the NCAA, led the nation in save percentage (.599) and ranked fourth in goals against average and seventh in saves per game. A MAAC All-Conference and All-Championship Team pick, Dobson continued his preparation for this season by again competing on the international stage with Team Canada at the U.S. Lacrosse Fall Classic in October. Fellow senior Ben Mazur along with junior Conan Lynch, sophomore Tyler Muir and freshman Sam Brie add a ton of depth in the cage as well.

Defensive coordinator Nico Capron's group is loaded with talent.

Senior Zack Belter is another MAAC All-Conference selection, both last season and again this preseason. He uses his 6-foot-5, 225 frame to create havoc with 14 caused turnovers last year and has been a force hunting groundballs. He also has picked up six long pole goals in his 28 career games. Belter will lead the group of close defensemen and LSMs which employs both youth and experience.

Sophomores Nick Porfilio and Cam Germain, junior Adam Shank and seniors David Steria and Brett Beetow have continued to improve and gain cohesiveness as a unit. Seniors Ryan Burns and Andrew Hersey add depth at LSM and the staff has high hopes for freshman Aiden MacDonell.

"We feel very strong with our close D and LSM going into the season. We feel we can be a little more offensive-minded," Mearns said. "We've settled clears and we feel we have the athletes who can get up the field."
 

IN THE MIDFIELD, senior Austin Blumbergs brings the Bonnies one of the top two-way players in the conference. A First Team All-Conference honoree last year, he posted 15 goals a year ago. Fellow senior Zach Owens showed great improvement in his third season, striking for eight goals and 11 points. Fellow fourth-year player Cian Collins battled injury last spring, but was a starter and one of the team's scoring leaders the previous two years. Redshirt junior Nick Slattery made an impact in his first year with the Bonnies, including a breakout effort of two goals and three points in last year's MAAC quarterfinal victory over Detroit Mercy. 

"We've made some adjustments in our roster. Nick Conklin is running offense in the midfield, he was an All-American at attack coming out of high school," Mearns said of a player who was on one of the MAAC leaders in caused turnovers as a freshman. "Young guys have come in and shown a ton of promise, Anthony Cimino, Conor Murphy, Drew Kenney and Will McKay are itching at the door. We have a much better balance in terms of lefties and righties. The exciting part is when we watch film you see guys getting better every day."

The defensive midfield is easily the deepest it has been in program history with a mix of newcomers and veterans. Senior Matthew DeGirolamo has 23 career goals and was the team leader in that first season. Junior Brady Wijbrandts posted 18 groundballs and 13 caused turnovers last year while upperclassmen John Fox, CJ DiRienzo, Ben Garcia and Brett Chiodo along with sophomore Connor Steria add more experience. Freshman Caleb Barnard joins as well.

"Those guys do a tremendous job every day. They're unsung heroes because they don't get much statistically to show for all their hard work," Mearns said. "If we struggle in the faceoff game we feel much better that we have depth where we won't get burned out over a four-quarter game."

IN HIS FIRST FULL COLLEGIATE SEASON, now-junior Jake Rosa was key to the Bonnies taking the next step as a program. The Ontario native opened things up offensively, leading the MAAC in points (39) and assists (22) while scoring 17 goals to become the program's first major award winner by earning MAAC Offensive Player of the Year accolades. He also was selected to the MAAC All-Championship Team after posting seven points in the postseason.

"Coach Conners has put in some systems and allowed for creativity," Mearns said of offensive coordinator Gill Conners. "It starts with Rosa who is so dynamic; he can create his own shot, tremendous stick skills, explosive off the dodge. He knows it takes a crew around you with chemistry and we feel we have gotten much deeper in that regard." 

Considered by many to be a postseason all-conference snub, senior Sean Westley led the MAAC in goals during the regular season with 23 last year. He finished the season with 31 points and scored multiple goals in eight of 10 contests. Junior Mark Belles started all 10 games, registering 16 points and 17 groundballs. Senior Jackson Rose was one of the MAAC's top power play threats a year ago, and figures to feature more prominently this season. The coaching staff also expects a strong season from junior Jake Emmick.

AT THE FACEOFF X, the Bonnies made great strides in 2021. Bona's ranked near the bottom of the nation in faceoff success during the team's first two seasons. Sophomore Austin Holley was the team's faceoff specialist last year, earning MAAC Rookie of the Week honors after setting program records for faceoff wins and groundballs in a victory over Manhattan before scoring 12 wins at the X in the MAAC quarterfinal triumph. Freshman Trent Grainger joins the roster from California and has impressed in pre-season. Senior Jack Almond returns as well.

A SEASON REMOVED from a conference-only slate due to the pandemic, the Bonnies return to a traditional slate in 2022. The Brown and White will challenge themselves with road games at NEC power Saint Joseph's and SoCon titan Richmond as well as road dates at Binghamton and VMI. Before conference play begins, the Bonnies will host Bellarmine and Hampton and play a unique home-and-home March weekend series with Cleveland State.

When MAAC play begins, close contests again figure to be the rule with the Bonnies playing six games last year decided by three goals or less including four games separated by just one tally.

"The MAAC is always tough, there's a ton of parity," Mearns said. "When you go through everybody, every game is a challenge. Every game is winnable, but you have to bring your 'A' game to win the MAAC. Our goal is to get to the conference championship and see if we can go one better."

Ultimately, this group of Bonnies seniors hopes their journey extends 1,353 days – a run that would lead to the MAAC Championship Game May 7.

"The goal from the day the seniors were freshmen was to get to NCAAs," Mearns said. "We feel a lot of the pieces of the puzzle are in place. Now we get to play some games and figure out if the dreams can start to become a reality."

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