ST. BONAVENTURE (1-8, 0-0 A-10) at HOBART (4-4, 0-0 A-10)
Saturday, April 1 - 12:00 p.m.
Geneva, N.Y. 
Radio: WEOS 89.5 FM/90.3 FM Geneva
 

• St. Bonaventure plays in its first-ever Atlantic 10 game for the sport of men's lacrosse when it makes the two-hour trip to Central New York and faces Empire State rival, and now conference mate, Hobart Saturday. The A-10 was founded in 1975, but is sponsoring men's lacrosse for the first time in 2023. The Bonnies first joined the A-10 in 1979 and have been members ever since in all other sports while Hobart joins the A-10 as an affiliate member for men's lacrosse only. Full-time A-10 schools SBU, Richmond, Saint Joseph's and UMass are joined by affiliate members Hobart and High Point to make up the new league.
• The Bonnies scheduled a challenging non-conference slate to prepare for A-10 play. SBU played at Syracuse and Marquette last week, two of four RPI Top 35 squads faced thus far. Hobart currently stands No. 31 in the RPI while future A-10 opponents UMass (21) and High Point (35) rank highly as well.
• Graduate Sean Westley snapped a two-game streak without a point at Marquette, scoring Bona's first goal in a 9-5 decision. Westley has never gone three straight games without a point in his Bonaventure career. 
• Freshman faceoff specialist Quinn Nolan was named to the Inside Lacrosse early season Impact Freshmen Top 30. Nolan ranked at No. 14 on the list among all D-I frosh. He owns a 56% win percentage at the faceoff X so far, a total that ranks in the top-25 nationally and is second among all Division I freshmen, behind only Robbie Stewart of Cleveland State (65%). 
• 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 after last playing at home March 11.

SERIES HISTORY: St. Bonaventure and Hobart have met once previously in men's lacrosse, with the Statemen taking an 18-8 victory back on March 27, 2019. Facing a nationally-ranked Hobart squad on the road in their first Division I season, the Bonnies kept things close early as the game was tied 1-1 after the first quarter. Hobart took control with eight goals in the second quarter, however. Zack Belter had six groundballs and two caused turnovers that night for the Bonnies as a freshman while Sean Westley had two caused turnovers as well.

ANOTHER HAT TRICK FOR ROSA: Senior Jake Rosa scored three goals in Bona's non-conference finale at Marquette last weekend. For Rosa, it marked his 12th career hat trick and 20th game of multiple goals.

NEW YORK NEIGHBORS: St. Bonaventure and Hobart are separated by just 111 miles, making them the two closest schools in Atlantic 10 men's lacrosse.

SLUMPING STICKS: The Bonnies are seeking to break out of their offensive funk. Bona's has scored six or fewer goals in five straight games, the longest streak in their Division I history. 

ANOTHER BONNIES FIRST: First-year Bonnie Cole Tucker became the latest Bonaventure freshman to tally his first career goal as he netted a score March 14 at Canisius. Six freshmen have tallied their first career goal this year: Tucker, Patrick Carpenter, Quinn Nolan, Owen Tasse, Josh Rosa and Aiden Smith. Junior Tage Hoeg also tallied his first goal March 21 at Syracuse.

ABOUT HOBART

• Hobart went 4-4 through non-conference play, including 1-2 at home. The Statemen scored wins over Canisius (20-14), Colgate (10-8), Robert Morris (14-12) and Providence (13-11). 
• The Statesmen are looking to bounce back from an 18-7 loss at Central New York rival Syracuse last Saturday.
• Hobart ranks third among the A-10 teams in offense, scoring 13.4 goals per contest thus far. 
• The Statesmen have a storied history in men's lacrosse, winning 16 national championships - 13 at the Division III level, two at Division II, and one at USILA. Men's lacrosse at Hobart dates back to 1898 and the school joined the Division I ranks for men's lacrosse in 1998. 
• Last season, Hobart played as members of the NEC, reaching the conference championship game where the Statesmen fell to current A-10 league mate Saint Joseph's. While in the NEC, the Statemen won the league in 2016 for a trip to the NCAA Tournament and also finished runner-up in 2014, 2017, 2019 and 2022. 
• Anthony Dattellas leads the A-10 in goals per game, averaging a hat trick and totaling 28 points thus far. The offense is balanced, with seven players posting 11 or more points this spring. In the cage, Loukas Sotiropoulos has earned the lion's share of time, starting six games with a 44.4 save percentage and 72 saves.

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