ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – Graduate student Sean Westley matched his own school record with nine points, scoring six times and assisting three other Bonnies goals, as the St. Bonaventure men's lacrosse team scored a convincing 15-9 win over visiting VMI Saturday afternoon at the Marra Athletics Complex.

While Westley was on fire throughout the day, senior teammate Jake Rosa was right on his heels.

The duo worked together all afternoon, combining on four goals. Rosa would score five goals and seven total points in a stellar effort of his own.

With the win, the Bonnies (1-3) score their first triumph of the year while dropping VMI to 3-2.

Bona's came out of the gate firing, scoring a trio of goals in the opening five minutes of the contest.

Quinn Nolan won the opening faceoff and drove right down the middle of the field, firing a shot on net and scoring the opening goal of the contest just 10 seconds in.

That set the tone for the remainder of the afternoon as Nolan would go on to set the program record for faceoff wins in a game by earning 19 victories on the day. The reigning Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week would drop just seven opportunities at the faceoff dot out of 26 chances, including a perfect 6-for-6 during the fourth quarter. He also scooped up a school single-game record of 13 groundballs.

The Bonnies blitzed VMI in the opening minutes, taking a 6-1 lead after one quarter as part of a 9-1 run to begin the game. By the time Kaden Brennan scored his first goal in a Bonnies uniform unassisted 7:44 before halftime, the Bonnies lead stood at eight.

Westley and Rosa both completed their hat tricks in the second quarter, pulling ahead 10-1 with 4:35 remaining in the first half.

VMI snapped its scoring drought with 2:57 showing on the clock, pulling back within eight at halftime.

Rosa, Westley and Patrick Carpenter notched third quarter goals for the Bonnies as they continued to control the game, 13-4, heading into the fourth.

The Keydets looked to rally in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Bonnies 5-2 in the final period.

VMI closed to a 14-8 tally with 4:45 to play before Westley notched his sixth goal of the day assisted by Conor Murphy with 2:10 remaining.  

In net, freshman Cristofero Cucciuffo made 14 saves in a strong effort.

Westley added two caused turnovers and four groundballs to pad his stat sheet while Mark Belles recorded three points and two caused turnovers.

Luke Rusterucci paced VMI with four goals and five points. Adam Norris made nine saves in net.

St. Bonaventure will play at UMBC Wednesday. Game time is slated for 6:00 p.m.

GAME NOTES

• Jake Rosa became the second player in program history to reach 100 career points, joining Westley in the 100-point club. He finished the day with 101 career points.
• Bonaventure scored its quickest goal to begin a game in program history when Nolan took the opening faceoff win down the field for a 1-0 lead 10 seconds into the contest.
• Westley tied his own school records for both single-game goals (6) and points (9). Westley previously scored six goals April 24, 2021 vs. Siena, a mark Jackson Rose matched vs. Siena himself last May. Westley also previously tallied nine points in a win over Hampton last March.
• Nolan broke the faceoff record of 18 previously set last year by Trent Grainger and the groundball record of 10 held by Brady Wijbrandts.

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