New Chapter of Bonnies Men's Lacrosse Arrives as 2023 Season Begins

In many ways, the 2023 season is a turning of the page for St. Bonaventure men’s lacrosse.

Since the official announcement of the program in 2017 and its first game competition in 2019, the Bonnies have enjoyed a steady rise. 

The last two seasons, just the program’s third and fourth at the Division I level, saw the Bonnies reach the final four of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference playoffs with last year bringing a MAAC regular season title and a spot in the conference championship game with a school record 11 wins.

With the conclusion of last year, though, brought the graduation of the program’s first full recruiting class and it also marked the end of Bona’s time in the MAAC. 

Last summer brought official word of the Atlantic 10 sponsoring the sport for the very first time and that news, along with a changing of the guard in several ways on the roster, ushers in a new era for the Bonnies. 

“The Atlantic 10 is a whole different animal,” St. Bonaventure head coach Randy Mearns said. “These are all teams that have competed on a national level. It’s a conference that could be a multi-bid league to the NCAA Tournament. It can be one of the best leagues in the country. It’s an amazing thing to be a part of for our program and we can’t wait to get started.”

ST. BONAVENTURE’S 2023 ROSTER is a mix of youth and experience throughout the lineup. 

Though the Bonnies said goodbye to many members of their initial recruiting class following graduation last spring, some of those program building blocks elected to return for their fifth season of eligibility permitted by the NCAA following the pandemic. 

Zack Belter, Austin Blumbergs and Sean Westley were all selected in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) Draft last fall and return as captains and graduate students this spring. Fellow grad students Andrew Hersey, David Steria, Zach Owens and Nick Conklin all return from Bona’s first group of recruits as well. 

Any discussion of the Bonnies this season though likely begins in net where the team will face the task of replacing All-American goalie Brett Dobson who was a first round draft pick in both the NLL and the PLL following a remarkable four-year career with the Bonnies. 

Four goalies are on this year's roster and a battle for the starting job through the fall and start of the second semester is likely to continue into the early season. 

Freshman Cristofero Cucciuffo put up big numbers in high school from his native Easton, Pa., including setting the PIAA state record for single game saves while recording a save percentage of 77% as a senior with a 5.30 goals against average. 

Senior Conan Lynch returns for the Bonnies and the team also added two mid-year transfers in Aidan Sheehan and Connor Robinson. Sheehan played two seasons at Roberts Wesleyan where he helped lead the program to a school record 10 wins last spring, making 144 saves in 15 games. Robinson spent two years at Maryville University and was the 2021 Great Lakes Valley Conference Freshman of the Year with a save percentage nearly at 54% along with an 8.70 GAA before missing last year due to injury. 

“They’ve really developed. At this point it’s still a bit of a committee, but they’ve started to perform,” Mearns said.

Whoever is in net will rely heavily on the experience of Belter, a first round pick of the Buffalo Bandits and First Team All-MAAC selection last year. 

“Having Belter back there will help the communication because they don’t have that experience,” Mearns said. “He’s communicating the defense and that takes one less stress off the goalies. Now they can concentrate on saving the ball and clearing the ball.”

The 6-foot-5 Belter played just the conference schedule due to injury last year, but still caused 12 turnovers and helped the Bonnies rank top-10 nationally in defense. 

Depth is a strength of the defense, which also returns veterans David Steria and Cam Germain. Steria was one of the MAAC’s leaders in caused turnovers before suffering a season-ending injury seven games in last year, while Germain logged five caused turnovers, 15 groundballs and started every game last year as a sophomore. 

Sophomore Aiden MacDonell shined last year in his college debut, including scoring his first career goal in the MAAC title game. Ryan Olan is another sophomore who could provide support from a close defensive standpoint.

Newcomers include Atkin Dwyer who is in his second year with the program after a redshirt year last season and freshmen Alex Polisoto, Cameron Viavada and Will Porfilio.

Mearns describes the long poles as a strong point for the team as junior Nick Porfilio, Will’s older brother, returns after playing in every game with 23 groundballs and 16 caused turnovers the last two years. Senior Adam Shank is another veteran, playing in 26 career games so far including a career-high five caused turnovers last spring. Freshman Owen Tasse has impressed in early work with the program.

“We have some good size and some really good athletes. Those guys are going to be able to cover our opponent’s number one matchup,” Mearns said. “We feel really good with our poles, our defensive core. There’s not 19 of them, but the guys we have we really like.”

IN THE DEFENSIVE MIDFIELD, several stalwarts return.

Senior Brady Wijbrandts, just named to the Netherlands national team for World Championships this summer, owns 85 groundballs and 32 caused turnovers while adding 10 points offensively over the past three seasons. 

Sophomore Caleb Barnard was another player who showed marked improvement as the season wore on last year as a freshman, playing in seven contests.

“They’re both very fast, athletic. They know the defensive scheme,” Mearns assessed. 

Redshirt senior Ben Garcia is returning from an ACL injury that cost him most of last year and was one of the team’s primary players in the midfield before being lost for the year. 

Will McKay, a redshirt freshman, has evolved into a defensive midfield position. Andrew Hersey moves from an LSM position to a new role this year. “He’s got such great feet and can cover matchups. He can stay right on someone’s hip and has looked really comfortable in that spot,” Mearns said. 

Connor Steria is in his third year with the program and has seen extensive field time the last two years. Redshirt junior Brett Chiodo was a breakout story late last year, moving into a key role by the time MAAC playoffs rolled around. Freshman Owen Spring is a two-way player who started more on the offensive side of the ball and has transitioned to a defensive role during preseason. Sophomore Tom Fox is in his second season with the program.

Austin Blumbergs has been a terrific two-way player throughout his career, posting 48 goals, 59 points and 39 groundballs thus far in four seasons. A fifth round pick of the Bandits in the NLL Draft following a three-time All-Conference stint in the MAAC, his role could be evolved a bit this season but figures to remain a two-way middie who can play all over the field. 

TWO NEWCOMERS will vie for time at the faceoff dot this season. 

Quinn Nolan comes to the Bonnies after finishing his high school career ranking 12th in national high school lacrosse history with 976 faceoff wins. The Palmyra, N.Y. native won 87 percent of his faceoff tries as a senior, and 79 percent for his career, on the way to US Lacrosse All-America honors. He also scored 92 goals with 60 assists as a varsity athlete.

He’s joined in the freshman class by Texas native Aidan Smith who won 94 percent of his faceoffs as a senior (174-185), adding 70 total points. A three-star recruit by Inside Lacrosse, he was an All-State selection.

“They’re both very, very good. They’re both untested, but we feel really good about them,” Mearns said. “They can carry the ball, they’ve both got good sticks and were offensive players for their high school teams. They’re going to be competing against some pretty fantastic faceoff guys around our league, but they go to work every day and keep improving.” 

OFFENSIVELY, THE BONNIES took great strides last year. Bona ranked first in the MAAC at nearly 11 goals per game. 

Sophomore Kyle Pepper moves into a bit a of a different role, focusing more on offense this year after posting two goals and two assists in his collegiate debut. Kaden Brennan joins the program from Howard CC where he scored 20 goals last year. “They’re phenomenal offensive players who understand the pick and roll game, can beat a guy off a dodge, create a slide. We’re excited to see how they perform.”

The coaching staff has high hopes for sophomore Drew Kenney who got experience last year in nine games after being a US Lacrosse All-American at East Aurora High. 

From the left-hand side, sophomore Conor Murphy was a MAAC All-Rookie Team selection last year with 10 goals and 20 total points including three multi-goal games. Murphy also registered six points in the postseason. Zach Owens returns for his fifth year, and has scored 21 points in the last two seasons with his role growing each season. After battling injury last year, Owens is looked to for a career year, now fully healthy with an ability to be explosive off the dodge.

Sophomore Anthony Cimino is a dual-purpose player, running left-handed attack after being in an offensive midfield role last year. He was one of the team’s top facilitators last year, handing out 14 assists to earn a spot on the MAAC All-Rookie Team as well. This season, though, he will be looked to in more of a scoring role.

Senior Jake Emmick started the last four games of 2022, scoring seven goals and figures to log a lot of minutes again this year as a veteran leader. 

Newcomers Patrick Carpenter and Cole Tucker join the rotation as well, and have impressed the coaching staff in preseason. Upperclassmen Joey Paterno and Tage Hoeg along with redshirt freshmen Josh Rosa and Reilly DelPonte will also add depth. 

THE TEAM’S PRIMARY attackmen are familiar faces. 

Grad student Sean Westley was the 2022 MAAC Co-Offensive Player of the Year and a second round NLL Draft pick of the Las Vegas Desert Dogs after leading the conference in points (56) and assists (26) while scoring 30 goals last year.

The program’s career leader in points with 119, Westley owns nearly every Bonnies offensive record.

The Bonnies will also benefit from the return of 2021 MAAC Offensive Player of the Year and two-time First Team All-Conference honoree Jake Rosa. Rosa could have repeated as Offensive Player of the Year, scoring 24 goals and 15 assists in 11 games last season, but a knee injury robbed him of finishing the year out and left a huge void in the Bonnies attack. 

Another veteran returning off injury is Mark Belles, who missed all of last season after a breakout sophomore season in 2021 with 16 points. He could be a primary attackman at X or on the right-hand side. 

“Jake is looking good, we have to bring him along, but he still has it and is motivated to get back to where he was,” Mearns said. “Mark’s his lax IQ is off the charts and we’re excited to have him back. And Sean is just playing off the charts. He became our offensive leader last year and we feel he will have a phenomenal year.”

Upperclassmen Joey Paterno and Tage Hoeg along with redshirt freshman Josh Rosa will also add depth. 

THE BONNIES WILL CERTAINLY BE CHALLENGED throughout the season with top-level opposition. 

Bona opens the year at Bellarmine Feb. 11 to begin a non-conference slate that will hopefully prepare the Bonnies for a gauntlet in the new A-10. Four of the league’s teams received top-20 votes last year – Saint Joseph’s, Richmond, UMass and High Point while Hobart, Bona’s first A-10 opponent on April 1, has a rich history of its own. Both Saint Joseph’s and Richmond are ranked in the preseason Top 20 polls. UMass has also received votes.

“We have a great schedule to prepare us,” Mearns said. “We like our non-conference schedule. We wanted to put together a challenging schedule leading into A-10 play. The A-10 could be a league that rivals the best leagues in the country. It’s another level and we’re looking forward to being part of it.”

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