ST. BONAVENTURE (0-3) vs. VMI (3-1)
Saturday, Feb. 25 – Noon
Marra Athletics Complex
TV: ESPN+

The St. Bonaventure men's lacrosse team returns home Saturday to play host to Virginia Military Institute with faceoff slated for noon. The Bonnies are seeking their first win while VMI comes in riding a 3-1 start.

LIVE STREAM AVAILABLE
Saturday's game will be available live through ESPN+.

STREAK SNAPPED
The Bonnies will look to start a new home winning streak after last weekend's heartbreaker vs. Binghamton. When the Bonnies fell in overtime, 12-11, it snapped a 10-game home winning streak dating back to March 27, 2021. The Bonnies were a perfect 6-0 at the Marra Athletics Complex last year en route to winning the MAAC Regular Season Championship and also won the final four games on home turf of the 2021 season including a MAAC playoff game vs. Detroit Mercy. Bona's last two home losses are by one goal each – in addition to the Binghamton game last week, their previous home setback was a 5-4 heartbreaker March 27, 2021 vs. Quinnipiac when the Bobcats scored the game-winner with just 10 seconds remaining in regulation.

ROSA RISING
Bonnies senior Jake Rosa has been getting back to his old self in the first three games of the 2023 season. The two-time MAAC First Team All-Conference selection and 2021 MAAC Offensive Player of the Year is coming off a knee injury that robbed him of the last month of the 2022 season, but he has shown no ill effects thus far. Rosa leads the Bonnies with eight goals on the year as well as 11 total points. He posted his seventh career game of five or more points in last Saturday's game before adding another hat trick Tuesday at Robert Morris. Rosa now has 10 career hat tricks. With his hat trick Tuesday, he moved into second all-time in Bonnies career goals with 54, passing Jackson Rose, '22 (52). Only teammate Sean Westley has more goals (71) while Rosa is also second to Westley in career points (94). Rosa is six points away from joining Westley in the Bonnies 100-point club.

BELLES IS BACK
Another key member of the Bonnies attack returning this year is Mark Belles. The fourth-year Bonnies player missed all of last year due to a preseason injury after starting every game in 2021, scoring 16 total points including at least one point in all but one game. He also had a goal in seven of 10 games as a sophomore. This year, he posted points in each of the first two games, logging a goal and an assist each at Bellarmine in the opener and vs. Binghamton Feb. 18.

HEAD OF THE CLASS                   
Graduate student Sean Westley ranks second on the team this season with three goals and leads the squad with five assists. The fifth-year Bonnie continues to add to his program-best career numbers, and also is rising up the national leader charts. He is tied for first among all Atlantic 10 players for career points with 127, matched with Matt Bohmer of Saint Joseph's. That total is also tied for 27^th among all active D-I players. Westley's 57 career assists are also 19^th among all active D-I players.

NOLAN NABS TOP ROOKIE HONORS
St. Bonaventure freshman Quinn Nolan became the first Bonnies player to take an Atlantic 10 award when he was named the A-10 Rookie of the Week this past Monday. Nolan has impressed at the faceoff dot thus far, scoring a winning percentage of over 56 percent. As a team, the Bonnies own a faceoff winning percentage of nearly 54 percent, which would be the best in program history, surpassing last season's 50 percent.

TURNOVER TROUBLE
For the Bonnies to crack into the win column, one area they will need to address is turnovers. SBU is averaging over 19 turnovers per game. Opponents have caused 37 Bona turnovers while the Bonnies have only caused 19 themselves. Last year, the Bonnies averaged under eight turnovers per game for the season.

ABOUT VMI

• VMI is off to a 3-1 start with wins over Detroit Mercy (14-11), Queens in double OT (10-9) and Hampton (20-10). Their only loss is to new A-10 member High Point (17-11).
• The Keydets have had an explosive offense, scoring nearly 14 goals per game. Luke Rusterucci has 23 points while Luke Mryzncza and AJ Stamos each have 12 points.
• VMI returned seven of eight players who started all 15 games last year including senior Scout Ripley who led the team with 41 points and 28 goals last year.
• VMI has a familiar face on the sidelines: assistant coach Nik Clinton had been a part of the Bonnies program since their D-I rebirth in 2019 through last year. He first spent two years with the Bonnies as a player, then the past two years as an assistant coach. He worked with faceoff and wing play units while on staff with the Bonnies. Clinton moved to VMI this past summer after joining the staff there.
• The Keydets are new members of the Bonnies old home, the MAAC. 

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