ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – The roll for the St. Bonaventure men's lacrosse team continued Saturday at the Marra Athletics Complex as the Bonnies won their sixth straight game, ninth in a row on home turf and stayed unblemished in conference play.
This win meant a little extra, however, as the Bonnies avenged a loss in the MAAC semifinals last May by scoring their first-ever victory over defending conference champion Monmouth in a defensive battle, 6-3.
The Bonnies (8-2, 3-0 MAAC) held the Hawks (4-5, 1-2) scoreless for the entire second half after the squads were locked in a 3-3 deadlock at the half.
In a game where scoring came at a premium, the first goal of the contest came just 60 seconds in as Cian Collins worked behind the net and found Jackson Rose who deposited his 24th goal of the season for the 1-0 lead.
Monmouth would score the next two tallies for a 2-1 edge at the 3:44 mark of the first quarter, but Jake Rosa knotted up the score at 2-2 with his 20th goal of the season with 34 seconds left before the end of the first quarter.
That tie remained until the 7:27 before the half when Zach Owens assisted a strike from Austin Blumbergs to give the Bonnies back the lead. Monmouth's Jack Daly scored with three minutes left before intermission for the tie.
Sean Westley gave the Bonnies the lead back in history-making fashion.
The Bona's senior became the first player in the school's Division I history to reach 100 career points as he scored on the power play two minutes into the third quarter.
Westley's 100th career point ended up providing the game-winner. Monmouth would go the final 32:55 of game time without scoring as Bona's Brett Dobson was absolutely rolling in the cage.
Dobson was unstoppable during the second half, making 13 of his 21 saves after halftime.
Westley posted his second of the day four minutes after his first strike for a 5-3 cushion, a lead that felt much larger on a day where goals came so hard to come by.
With the game decided in the waning seconds, Rosa scored his second of the afternoon as 33 seconds remained.
The Bonnies defense logged 11 caused turnovers, led by two each from Zack Belter and Nick Porfilio. SBU's penalty kill was again outstanding, successfully killing off all four man-up opportunities for the Hawks.
St. Bonaventure returns to action at Siena next Saturday.
GAME NOTES
- Dobson posted his second-highest save total of the year and now has 168 through 10 games.
- The three goals allowed are the second-fewest by the Bonnies during their Division I era. SBU shut out Hampton earlier this season.
- Bona has allowed single-digit goals in all three conference wins this season.
- Westley reached 100 career points in his 39th career game. He owns 58 goals and 43 assists in a Bonnies uniform.
- St. Bonaventure has not lost at home in over a calendar year, winning nine in a row dating to last season.
- Monmouth logged 38 total shots to Bona's 33. The Hawks won eight faceoffs while Bona's finished with five faceoff wins, all by Trent Grainger.
- The Bonnies finished with 29 groundballs, led by five each from Dobson and Brady Wijbrandts.
- Monmouth was the only MAAC team the Bonnies had never beaten prior to Saturday (0-3). SBU also posted their first-ever win over Marist last month.
- Bona's avenged a 12-5 loss in last year's MAAC semifinals at Monmouth.
- The Hawks entered the year as the defending conference champions and as the MAAC preseason favorites. Each of Bona's three conference wins so far are against the teams picked to finish top three in the conference preseason coaches' poll: Monmouth, Marist, Manhattan.
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