ST. BONAVENTURE (0-1) at BINGHAMTON (0-1)
Saturday, Feb. 17 - 12:00 p.m.
Binghamton, N.Y.

OPENING FACEOFF

• The St. Bonaventure men's lacrosse team travels to Binghamton for its second game of the 2024 season. Saturday's game will be streamed on AmericaEast.TV. 
• The Bonnies dropped a 13-9 decision to Bellarmine in the opener last Sunday, led by four goals from grad transfer Kellen Pulera. Five different Bonnies scored - in addition to Pulera, Patrick Carpenter had two goals and Jake Rosa, Kyle Pepper and Jake Argue had one each.
• Sophomore goalie Cris Cucciuffo is the Atlantic 10 Co-Defensive Player of the Week after stopping 17 shots in last Sunday's game. He is the first Bonnies player to take offensive or defensive player of the week honors in the Atlantic 10. Bona joined the newly formed conference last year and Cucciuffo as well as faceoff specialist Quinn Nolan each earned Rookie of the Week honors during the season. 
• The Bonnies went 11-14 at the faceoff dot last weekend, led by eight victories from sophomore Quinn Nolan. Freshman Grant Giunchi also split time taking faceoffs with Nolan.
• Penalties were an issue last week as the Bonnies were flagged for seven penalties accounting for eight minutes of penalty time. SBU was able to successfully kill off three of Bellarmine's five power play opportunities. 
• Aiden MacDonell tallied an assist in last Sunday's game, his first point since posting a goal in the 2022 MAAC Championship Game. He had the helper on the first career goal scored by freshman Jake Argue.

STANDOUT NUMBERS
4 - Kellen Pulera tied the record for most goals in a Bonnies debut with four vs. Bellarmine, tying Jake Rosa's four vs. St. Joe's in 2020.
9 - Nine Bonnies made their program debut, donning the Brown and White for the first time in last weekend's opener.
9 - St. Bonaventure has had nine draft selections between the PLL and NLL Drafts since 2022.
10 - The Bonnies averaged 10 goals at home last year, but just over 6.5 goals per contest in road games.
17 - Cris Cucciuffo has four career games of 17+ saves in his first 15 collegiate contests. He had 17 stops in the 2024 season opener.


SERIES HISTORY
The Bonnies and Bearcats have met officially just once previously. Last year, the Bearcats won an overtime thriller, 12-11, at the Marra Athletics Complex. Matthew Keegan scored the game-winner with one second left on a man-up opportunity for the Bearcats. Jake Rosa tallied five points including four goals. Binghamton led 7-2 in the first quarter, but the Bonnies clawed back to tie in the fourth. Conor Murphy, Mark Belles and Owen Tasse all scored goals for the Bonnies as well. Quinn Nolan won 13 faceoffs, going 13-10 at the dot. The scheduled 2022 game at BU was canceled due to frozen turf.

ABOUT BINGHAMTON 

• The Bearcats opened up the 2024 season with a 9-8 heartbreaker vs. Jacksonville at home last weekend. Liam Ferris led the team with two goals while six other players scored one apiece.
• BU was picked fourth in the America East Preseason Poll. The Bearcats finished 9-5 last year, tying for second in the conference with a 5-2 league record. They lost to eventual AE champ Bryant, 12-11, in the conference tournament.
• Binghamton returns 30 players from last year including Matthew Keegan who was First Team All-Conference with 47 goals a year ago. Goalie Connor Winters was also a First Teamer, making 185 saves last year with a .549 save percentage. 

UP NEXT
The Bonnies have a quick turnaround, hosting Robert Morris on Tuesday afternoon. Faceoff is slated for 4 p.m. at the Marra Athletics Complex. 

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