ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – Sean Westley scored a pair of goals inside the final five minutes through the pouring rain Tuesday afternoon at the Marra Athletics Complex, breaking a late tie and sending the St. Bonaventure men's lacrosse team to a 13-12 victory over visiting Bellarmine.

Three Bonnies tallied hat tricks: Westley, Austin Blumbergs and Jackson Rose all scored three goals apiece. Westley had five points and Rosa handed out four assists and totaled six points.

The Bonnies built a second half lead but had to overcome a Bellarmine rally to secure their first-ever win over a non-conference opponent.

Bona's grabbed an 11-8 advantage with 4:59 remaining in the third quarter following back-to-back goals from Jackson Rose and Austin Blumbergs less than a minute apart.

A goal from Bellarmine's Jesse Roth with 1:30 left in the penultimate period would send the teams to the fourth with the hosts maintaining an 11-9 edge.

The Knights (0-5) would tie the game with 8:15 to play, though, as an unrelenting cold rain made the turf slick throughout.

Westley broke the tie with his goal at the 5:31 mark, then gave the Bonnies some breathing room with 2:39 to play as he deposited a pass from Rosa for a two-goal advantage.

Bellarmine would draw within one on a goal with only three seconds to play, but did not have enough time for a shot after winning the ensuing faceoff.

Freshman Trent Grainger tied the program record with 14 faceoff wins for the Bonnies while senior Brett Dobson turned away 19 shots in the cage.

Senior Zach Owens added a Bonaventure goal, as did freshman Kyle Pepper who logged his first collegiate point. Another Bonnies freshman, Conor Murphy handed out two assists as well.

Back-and-forth throughout, the Bonnies held a 5-4 lead after the first quarter and an 8-7 margin at halftime. 

St. Bonaventure (1-1) returns to action Saturday at VMI.

GAME NOTES:

• Bona's continued its trend of nail-biters, playing their sixth game in the past two seasons decided by two or less goals.
• The 13 goals posted by the Bonnies match their program-record since joining the Division I level in 2019, equaling their total in last year's win at Quinnipiac.
• SBU had three players tally hat tricks in the same game for the first time in program history.
• Grainger tied the single-game Bonnies faceoff wins record of 14, matching a mark set by Austin Holley in a win over Manhattan last year.
• Westley now has points in 12 consecutive games dating to last year. He also registered his fourth career 3+ goal game, as did Blumbergs and Rose.
• Dobson's 19 saves rank third in Bonnies single-game history behind his previous marks of 23 (2019 at High Point) and 22 (last week at Saint Joseph's).
• Brett Beetow, Anthony Cimino and Cian Collins all had an assist. 
• Bellarmine owned a 45-32 advantage in shots and was successful in 18 of 20 clear attempts while the Bonnies finished 21-for-26. Both teams won 14 faceoffs and each squad went 1-for-3 in power play opportunities.
• St. Bonaventure scored its first win over a non-conference opponent, though a victory at Quinnipiac to begin last season was counted as "non-conference" despite being against a MAAC foe.
• Bellarmine fell to 0-5, but in addition to their one-goal loss Tuesday, the Knights also suffered a 9-8 setback in triple overtime to Marquette and a 13-11 loss vs. Canisius. Tuesday's win for the Bonnies avenged a 13-5 win by the Knights in Louisville two years ago.