ST. BONAVENTURE (0-0) vs. BELLARMINE (0-1)
Sunday, Feb. 11 - 12:00 p.m.
Marra Athletics Complex
Radio: Bonnies Online Network

OPENING FACEOFF

• The St. Bonaventure men's lacrosse team will once again open up the season with Bellarmine. Despite the two campuses being separated by over 500 miles and 12 hours by car from St. Bonaventure to Louisville, Kentucky, the Bonnies and Knights have become common foes since SBU's entry to the Division I level. The first meeting came in February 2020 when the Bonnies fell, 13-5, in Louisville. St. Bonaventure captured a thrilling 13-12 win at the Marra Athletics Complex in the only prior meeting in Western New York two years ago, but Bellarmine took the series lead in last year's season-opener, holding on for a 14-10 victory.
• Jake Rosa leads the Bonnies with nine career points vs. Bellarmine. He totaled two goals and four assists for six points in the 2022 home win and also posted a goal and two assists last year. Kyle Pepper scored a goal in each of those goals while Conor Murphy has three total points in two career games vs. Bellarmine. Last year, Anthony Cimino, Patrick Carpenter and Drew Kenney also scored Bonaventure goals while Mark Belles scored in both the 2020 game at Bellarmine as well as last year. Quinn Nolan was strong at the faceoff X vs. Bellarmine last season, going 11-for-17 while also picking up eight groundballs and scoring his first career goal. Cristofero Cucciuffo made 11 saves vs. the Knights in 2023.

SEASON OPENER HISTORY: St. Bonaventure is 1-5 in season openers since joining the Division I ranks. Their lone win came at Quinnipiac, 13-6, March 6, 2021 - which was also their first win in program history in their 20th game at the D-I level. Jake Rosa had five points (2G - 3A) on that day while Mark Belles also scored twice. Sunday's game vs. Bellarmine is the first time the Bonnies have played their lid-lifter on home turf - the 2020 opener vs. Saint Joseph's was technically a "home" game, but it was played at the Buffalo Bills practice facility.

FOLLOW ONLINE
If you can't attend Sunday's game in person, a live radio broadcast will be available through the Bonnies Online Network. Tune in beginning at 11:45 a.m. with Chris Russell for the Bonnies Pregame Show. Click here to listen - the broadcast is free for all fans.

INSIDE BONNIES LACROSSE PODCAST
New for the 2024 season through the Bonnies Online Network is the Inside Bonnies Lacrosse Podcast. Check out the debut episode as associate head coach Gill Conners previews the new campaign and talks about the building of the program to this point. Click here to listen. 

A-10 ROOKIE TEAM TANDEM: Cristofero Cucciuffo and Quinn Nolan were selected to the All-Rookie Team as freshmen last season. Cucciuffo played in all 14 games including 13 starts in the cage during his collegiate debut this spring. The Easton, Pa. native ranked second in the A-10 with 150 saves on the year, including a career-high 22 stops at UMass. He averaged 10.7 saves per game and stopped 47 percent of the shots against him for the year. Cucciuffo's 150 saves were behind only A-10 Defensive Player of the Year Matt Knote of UMass in the conference. Nolan made an immediate impact as Bona's faceoff specialist this year, setting program records for both faceoff wins (137) and groundballs (85). A native of Palmyra, N.Y., Nolan won 51 percent of his tries at the faceoff X this season and also set the program's single game records with faceoff wins (19) and groundballs (13) in a win over VMI earlier in the year. In all, he posted seven games of double-digit faceoff victories, including in A-10 games vs. Hobart, Saint Joseph's and Richmond. Nolan also tallied three goals on the year.

PULERA JOINS THE ATTACK: Grad transfer Kellen Pulera bolsters the Bona attack this season. He is a Buffalo area native who is familiar with many Bonnies not only through his upbringing in Western New York, but also through battles in the MAAC as he played his first four seasons at Marist. He played in 34 games with 18 starts over four seasons, registering 41 goals and 48 total points with the Red Foxes. He was named to MAAC Second Team All-Conference as a junior when he started 14 of 15 games, recording 31 goals and 17 groundballs in his top season thus far as a collegiate player.

BONA DUO SELECTED IN NLL DRAFT: Graduate students Jake Rosa and Kellen Pulera were selected in the 2023 NLL Draft by the Buffalo Bandits back in September. Rosa was selected in the third round, 53rd overall, while Pulera was picked in the fourth round at No. 68. Both players will have the opportunity to join the defending NLL champions and add to what is becoming a bit of a St. Bonaventure to Buffalo pipeline as alums Zack Belter and Austin Blumbergs were both drafted by the franchise in last year's draft and signed two-year deals with the Bandits this fall. Belter has spent this season on injured reserve with the Bandits while Blumbergs is serving as an assistant coach with the Bonnies this season.

CANADIAN CONNECTION: It's no surprise, but again the Bonnies have tapped into their Canadian pipeline with 12 players born north of the border on the roster in 2024. Among Division I squads, only Robert Morris has more Canadian natives (15).  It's a continued tradition under head coach and Canadian native Randy Mearns who has deep ties to the Canadian national team coaching staff, winning multiple World Championship medals with Team Canada. 

HOME FIRES BURNING: The Bonnies are set to play a school-record seven home games this year with seven of 13 scheduled contests set for the Marra Athletics Complex. That's up from five home games a year ago. The Bonnies have often played extremely well at home - while their only win of last season came on home turf, last year's home opener victory over VMI was the 10th consecutive win for the Bonnies at home dating back to 2021. The team went 6-0 at the Marra Complex in 2022 and 4-1 in 2021. 

ATLANTIC 10 STRENGTH: The Atlantic 10 figures to be one of the strongest men's lacrosse leagues in the nation this year as it enters Year 2. Defending league champion Richmond started the year ranked Top 20 nationally in preseason polls while Saint Joseph's and High Point both received votes in the Inside Lacrosse Preseason Top 20. Another Bona opponent during non-conference play, Marquette, also received votes in the IL preseason poll. 

ABOUT BELLARMINE

• Bellarmine was picked fourth in the ASUN Preseason Coaches Poll, led by senior Kyle Playstead who was named the ASUN Preseason Co-Player of the Year. Last season, he led the team last year in points (79), tied for 2^nd on the team in goals (40) and paced the team in assists (39). Goalie JC Higginbotham, a grad student, was also named to the ASUN Preseason All-Conference Team. 
• The Knights return their top three scorers from last year including Christian Della Rocco who scored a team-best 50 goals.
• Higginbotham made 157 saves and went 9-5 in the cage as the starter in 2023.
• Bellarmine opened their 2024 slate last week, falling at Duke, 20-12. Playstead and John Alie led the way with three goals each and six players found the back of the net. Higginbotham made 18 saves.
• Playstead had a hat trick in last year's win over the Bonnies while Higginbotham made 10 saves. Benny O'Rourk had four goals in that game and Christian Della Rocco scored twice.
• The Knights are on a long road trip as after making the trip to Western New York this weekend, they will stay on the road and play at Ohio State on Tuesday. They'll host Canisius in their home opener Feb. 17. 

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