ST. BONAVENTURE (5-2, 0-0 MAAC) at MARIST (1-5, 0-0 MAAC)
Saturday, March 19 – 1:00 p.m.
Poughkeepsie, N.Y. – Tenney Stadium at Leonidoff Field
TV: ESPN+

The St. Bonaventure University men's lacrosse team carries its three-game win streak into Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play, beginning Saturday, March 19 on the road at Marist. Action is slated to begin at 1:00 p.m. in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

OPENING FACEOFF

• The Bonnies are coming off a dramatic 11-10 victory over Cleveland State last Sunday afternoon in Ohio. Bona's outscored the Vikings by a 5-2 margin in the final quarter and struck for the tying and game-winning tallies in the last 3:10 of the day.
• The winning score came with 1:57 to play as Jake Rosa worked behind the cage, delivering a feed to Jackson Rose who came through with his fourth goal of the day to complete a weekend home-and-home sweep over CSU.
• Sunday's win completed a weekend sweep of Cleveland State after taking the first meeting of the series last Friday. The Bonnies bested the Vikings, 12-5, at the Marra Athletics Complex.
• Rose scored seven goals in the weekend series against the Vikings while Blumbergs posted six goals this weekend.

NON-CONFERENCE RECAP

• Prior to this season, St. Bonaventure had not won a game against a non-conference opponent during its first two years of 2019 and 2020 before last year's conference-only slate. This season, the Bonnies went 5-2 during non-conference action with wins over Bellarmine (ASUN), VMI (SoCon), Hampton (SoCon) and Cleveland State twice (ASUN).
• Senior goalkeeper Brett Dobson ranks second nationally in save percentage (.646) and saves per game (16.1), leading the MAAC in both categories.
• Senior Jackson Rose ranks second nationally in shot percentage (.625) and second overall in the MAAC with 20 goals on the season, already a career-high.
• Senior Sean Westley leads the MAAC in assists (14) and ranks second in points (27).
• The Bonnies have the top two players on the MAAC assists list as junior Jake Rosa ranks second with 10. Freshman Anthony Cimino is also top-five with eight helpers so far.
• The Bonnies played multiple thrillers: Four of the team's seven non-conference games were decided by one goal with Bona going 3-1 in those contests.

MAAC WEEKLY HONORS BONNIES DUO

• For the third straight week, a pair of St. Bonaventure men's lacrosse players have earned weekly awards from the MAAC as senior Brett Dobson has been tabbed Defensive Player of the Week while freshman Trent Grainger received Faceoff Specialist of the Week honors.
• Dobson helped key two wins over Cleveland State this past weekend as he stopped 33 shots and posted a .688 save percentage along with a 7.50 goals against average.
• In Friday's 12-5 victory at home, he was especially impressive, making 19 saves against the Vikings. Sunday at CSU, he turned away 14 shots in an 11-10 triumph.
• For the season, Dobson ranks second nationally in both save percentage (.646) and saves per game (16.1). His 9.43 goals against average is best in the MAAC and 12th in the nation.
• Grainger earned Faceoff Specialist of the Week honors for the second consecutive week. The first-year collegiate player won 17 faceoffs this past week, including 11 in Friday's victory. He added six groundballs Friday and six more faceoff victories Sunday with three groundballs. For the week, Grainger won 51 percent of his faceoff opportunities.

ABOUT MARIST

• Marist enters Saturday's contest with an overall record of 1-5 with its lone win coming over Binghamton, 11-9, Feb. 12. The record is deceiving as Marist has played of the nation's toughest non-conference schedules. The Red Foxes' non-conference schedule featured a matchup with then-No. 9 Rutgers, Richmond, Bucknell, Air Force and Delaware.
• Jojo Pirreca leads the Red Foxes with 14 points on eight goals and six assists while Kelle Pulera leads the team with nine goals. James Lyons and Vito Musso have seven goals each for Marist. Jason Intermesoli has handed out a team-high eight assists to go along with a pair of goals.
• Dylan Bedell takes 70 percent of faceoffs for Marist, winning 35.1 percent (39-for-111) of his chances. JT Roselle, Matt Fermo and John Kelly each have multiple faceoff wins as well for the Red Foxes.
• In the cage, Anthony Novellano has played all but eight minutes in between the pipes this season. The senior goalkeeper had appeared in just one game prior to the 2022 season and has stopped 96 shots in six games this year.
• The Bonnies have played Marist just once – an 11-5 Marist win in Poughkeepsie April 16, 2019. The scheduled games in 2020 and 2021 were canceled.

UP NEXT

• The Bonnies return home to host Manhattan Saturday, March 26 at 1:00 p.m.

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