ST. BONAVENTURE (1-6) at SYRACUSE (4-4, 0-2 ACC)
Tuesday, March 21 – 6:00 p.m.
Syracuse, N.Y.
TV: ACC Network Extra

OPENING FACEOFF

• St. Bonaventure makes its first-ever trip to the dome in Syracuse Tuesday night for the first matchup between the Bonnies and Orange in the sport of men's lacrosse.
• The Bonnies are led offensively by the veteran combination of Jake Rosa and Sean Westley. The duo, each named MAAC Offensive Player of the Year in the past two seasons, combine for 41 of Bona's 89 total points scored this season.
• Rosa and Westley were each held scoreless in last Tuesday's game at Canisius, as well as at UMBC March 1. In their now four seasons as teammates, Rosa and Westley have combined for zero points just five times with two of those instances coming during non-conference play so far this spring.
• Freshman faceoff specialist Quinn Nolan has a winning percentage of over 57% at the faceoff dot so far this season. That total ranks in the top-25 nationally and is second among all Division I freshmen, behind only Robbie Stewart of Cleveland State (65%).
• Bonnies freshman goalie Cris Cucciuffo is making nearly 11 saves per game. His 50% save percentage is second among all Atlantic 10 goalies so far behind only Matt Knote of UMass.
• The Bonnies are in the midst of four straight games on the road. Bona will go nearly a month between home games, next hosting their first-ever A-10 game on home turf April 8 vs. Saint Joseph's.

 
STANDOUT NUMBERS
6 – The Bonnies returned six All-MAAC players off last year's roster.
7 – St. Bonaventure had seven draft selections between the 2022 PLL and NLL Drafts.
18 – Graduate student Andrew Hersey has 18 groundballs this year, second on the team behind only faceoff specialist Quinn Nolan's 41.
75 – Freshman goalie Cristofero Cucciuffo has made 75 saves on the year.
139 – Bonnies graduate student Sean Westley has 139 career points, ranking 28th among all active Division I players.


IN THE EMPIRE STATE
The Bonnies and Orange are playing for the first time, making Syracuse the eighth team in New York State that the Bonnies have faced since joining the Division I ranks in 2019. St. Bonaventure is 7-11 against New York teams in 18 previous contests vs. Empire State foes (Binghamton: 0-1; Canisius: 2-3; Cornell: 0-1; Hobart: 0-1; Manhattan: 2-2; Marist: 1-1; Siena: 2-2).
 
HISTORY LESSON
St. Bonaventure is in its fifth season at the Division level, announcing the return of its program in 2017 before playing its first D-I contests in 2019. Bona's played at the Division III level from 1988-93, dropping to the club ranks after the 1993 season. In 2019, Bona had 33 freshmen on the roster, third-most in Division I history. The first two seasons brought a struggle with the nation's youngest team as the Bonnies went 0-19 their first two years before the pandemic brought 2020 to an early halt. SBU immediately made great strides in 2021, winning their first game of the year and ultimately finishing 5-5 with their first-ever postseason win. Between 2021 and 2022, the Bonnies won 16 games, including a school-best 11-4 record last year. SBU reached the MAAC final four in each season, coming one step away from its first NCAA Tournament berth last spring, falling by one goal to Manhattan in the MAAC Championship Game following several key injuries. Led by 2022 MAAC Coach of the Year Randy Mearns, the Bonnies moved to the newly formed Atlantic 10 men's lacrosse league this past summer.

HEAD OF THE CLASS
Graduate student Sean Westley ranks second on the team this season with 12 goals and leads the squad with eight assists. The fifth-year Bonnie and Las Vegas Desert Dogs draft pick continues to add to his program-best career numbers, and also is rising up the national leaders charts. He is first among all Atlantic 10 players for career points with 139. That total is also tied for 28th among all active D-I players. Westley's 59 career assists are also 20th among all active D-I players.

ANOTHER BONNIES FIRST
First-year Bonnie Cole Tucker became the latest Bonaventure player to tally his first career goal as he netted a score March 14 at Canisius. Tucker became the seventh freshman to tally his first career goal this year, joining Patrick Carpenter, Quinn Nolan, Owen Tasse, Josh Rosa and Aidan Smith.

ABOUT SYRACUSE

• The Orange boast a 4-4 overall record and a 3-3 mark at the JMA Wireless Dome. 
• Syracuse has beaten Vermont (7-5), Albany (20-7), Holy Cross (15-6), and Hofstra (16-8) in non-conference play, but opened the ACC slate with setbacks vs. No. 4/9 Maryland (15-12) and No. 16/12 North Carolina (19-13). 
• Syracuse ranks 23rd nationally in scoring offense, posting over 13 goals per game while their defense is 19th in the country while surrendering 10.6 goals per contest. When on the man-up, the Orange usually convert, standing sixth nationally with nearly a 59% success rate. The Orange has also taken care of the ball, leading the country with 12 turnovers per game. Joey Spallina's eight man-up goals are the most by a Division I player this year.
• Spallina's 21 goals and 34 points pace the offense while Owen Hiltz (15-16-31), Finn Thomson (11-10-21) and Alex Simmons (8-12-20) add strong scoring threats.
• In net, Will Mark is 17th in the country with a 10.5 goals against average, and his 14.7 saves per game rank sixth among all goalies.
• Syracuse used the transfer portal extensively this year, adding six transfers, including Mark and Simmons, who combined for 242 games played, 165 goals and 259 points at previous schools. Mark made 499 career saves at LIU. 

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