LOUISVILLE, Ky.  – The St. Bonaventure University men's lacrosse team dropped its 2023 season-opener at Bellarmine Saturday afternoon by a score of 14-10.
 
Ten different players netted goals for the Bonnies in a balanced scoring attack.
 
The first half of Saturday's contest was a back-and-forth affair as neither team had more than a one-goal advantage throughout.
 
The Knights took an early 1-0 lead on the man-up, but the Bonnies responded with a score from sophomore Drew Kenney off a feed from senior Mark Belles. 
  
Bellarmine (1-1) capitalized off another man-up advantage to take a 2-1 lead, but graduate student and MAAC Co-Offensive Player from a season ago Sean Westley notched his first goal of the season to tie the game at two.
 
Sophomore Anthony Cimino gave the Bonnies a 3-2 lead to end the first quarter when Westley found him wide open in front of the net.
 
Once again, the Knights would answer at the start of the second quarter and grab a 4-3 advantage, but freshman faceoff specialist Quinn Nolan scooped up the ball off the ensuing faceoff and fired a shot past the Knights' goalie for his first collegiate score to make it four apiece on the scoreboard.
 
Justin Wescoat gave Bellarmine another one goal lead, 5-4, with his first goal of the season, but the Bonnies would answer with back-to-back goals.
 
Sophomore Kyle Pepper received the pass from Jake Rosa and put his shot into the back of the net. The assist marks Rosa's 38^th of his career, breaking his tie with Todd Cilano, '93 for second all-time in the record book.
 
Fellow sophomore Conor Murphy beat a plethora of Knights' defenders and fired his shot in the top left of the net for a 6-5 Bonaventure advantage.
 
The Knights grabbed another one goal lead with about two minutes left in the first half, but freshman midfielder Patrick Carpenter notched his first collegiate goal to knot it up at seven apiece going into halftime.
 
Bellarmine took over on the defensive side of the ball, holding the Bonnies scoreless in the third quarter while netting two goals to take a 9-7 lead.
 
The Knights added five more goals in the fourth quarter, but the Bonnies would continue to fight to stay in the game.
 
Rosa and Belles delivered their first goals of the season to keep the Bonnies within striking distance in the final quarter of play. Rosa is now tied for fourth with Mike Barney (1989-92) in career goals with 47.
 
St. Bonaventure (0-1) would net another goal off a faceoff, this time coming off the stick of freshman faceoff specialist Aidan Smith with his first collegiate goal.
 
Unfortunately, the Bonnies would run out of time in their comeback attempt and the Knights (1-1) secured their first victory of the season.
 
In his first collegiate game in net, freshman Cristofero Cucciuffo tallied 11 saves for the Bonnies. 

Jake Rosa, the two-time First Team All-MAAC selection returning from a knee injury that cost him part of last season, posted a team-high three points. 

Freshman Quinn Nolan went 11-for-17 at the faceoff dot in his first collegiate game, adding eight groundballs.
 
Benny O'Rourk led the Knights with four goals, while Kyle Playsted recorded three goals. Goalie JC Higginbotham finished with six saves.
 
The Bonnies make their season debut at home Saturday, Feb. 18 when Binghamton comes to the Marra Athletics Complex. Game time is scheduled for noon.
 
 
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