ST. BONAVENTURE (2-4) vs. MERCER (1-4)
Thursday, 12:00 p.m.
Marra Athletics Complex
TV: ESPN+

ST. BONAVENTURE vs. CLEVELAND STATE (2-4)
Saturday, 3:00 p.m.
Marra Athletics Complex
TV: ESPN+

OPENING FACEOFF
The St. Bonaventure men's lacrosse team will play a pair of home games this week, welcoming Atlantic Sun Conference member Mercer to the Marra Athletics Complex for the first time before hosting Cleveland State of the Northeast Conference on Saturday afternoon.

CLOSE CALLS
St. Bonaventure has had its share of drama this season, playing in three one-goal games and a fourth contest that was decided by just two tallies. All of those games have come consecutively, starting with a 9-8 overtime win at Mount St. Mary's on Feb. 11. The Bonnies were on the other side of a one-goal decision Feb. 18 at Robert Morris as the NEC favorite Colonials rallied late for an 8-7 win. The last time the Bonnies were home, they scored an 11-9 win over Mercyhurst with a strong finish to that game before suffering a 10-9 heartbreaker at Le Moyne last Saturday. Bona made a bid to send that game to overtime, but a shot on goal at the buzzer was denied by the Dolphins goalie.

BONNIES STAT LEADERS
Three Bonaventure players have tallied double-figure points so far, led by senior Conor Murphy's 14 points (9G-5A). Murphy had a team-high six points in the Mercyhurst win last week. Classmate Kyle Pepper is right behind with 13 points (7G-6A) including a hat trick last time out at Le Moyne. Senior Drew Kenney is also having a career season with 12 points, already his collegiate-high.

BOOMER IS BOOMIN'
Redshirt freshman John Boomer enjoyed a game to remember this past Saturday at Le Moyne as he tallied his first two career goals.
Boomer became the sixth Bonnies player to tally his first Division I goal this season, joining teammates Jaxon Dillon, Blayze Becker, Nolan Wilde, Henry Coke and Lad Harper.

FRESHMEN FACEOFF
Two Bonnies have impressed at the faceoff dot so far this season.

Lad Harper has taken the lion's share of faceoffs this year for the team, scoring a nearly 56 percent win rate and 60 faceoff wins along with 30 groundballs, both team bests. Harper was also named an Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week earlier this year.

Jeremy Askin made his mark at the faceoff dot last time out at Le Moyne as well. Askin took the majority of the faceoffs in Syracuse and he won nine of his 15 faceoff attempts, scooping up three groundballs as well.

INSIDE BONNIES LACROSSE PODCAST
Catch the latest episode of the Inside Bonnies Lacrosse Podcast with head coach Randy Mearns! In this week's episode, Coach Mearns previews this week's games and talks about the strong play of standout freshmen as well as the veteran leadership of the Bonnies so far. He also discusses the growth of field lacrosse and the impact of the NCAA House settlement.

Click here to listen!

TRENDING NUMBERS
3 – Patrick Shanahan leads the Bonnies field players with three groundballs per game this season.
3 – Kyle Pepper leads the Bonnies with three man-up goals on the season.
9 – Cameron Viavada ranks ninth among all Atlantic 10 players in caused turnovers per game, averaging one per contest.
11 – SBU scored their season-high 11 goals at home last Tuesday in a win over Mercyhurst.
16 – The second quarter has been Bona's most productive offensive period of the year with 16 goals thus far.

ABOUT MERCER

• Mercer is 1-4 on the season and looking to snap a four-game losing skid. After a 23-3 win over Hampton to begin the year, Mercer has suffered losses to Marist, VMI, Army and Drexel. The Bears are playing back-to-back games in the Empire State, traveling from their home in Georgia to take on the Bonnies Thursday before a trip to Le Moyne on Saturday.
• The Bears were selected fifth in the six-team ASUN Preseason poll. Utah was named the conference preseason favorite.
• Mercer has been strong at the faceoff dot, ranking 20^th nationally by winning 56 percent of their faceoffs so far. Christopher Cappelmann (31 faceoff wins) and Carter Kryszak (33 faceoff wins) have been a solid combination so far.
• Mercer has also been strong on the penalty kill, ranking 15^th in the country by killing off over 75 percent of penalties. Conversely, the Bears have struggled on the clear (76%, 70^th nationally) which has helped lead to a lot of shots on net – Mercer ranks second nationally in saves per game (15.8), led by Rand Paddack who has a 49 percent save percentage.

SERIES HISTORY
This will be just the second meeting between the Bonnies and Mercer in men's lacrosse and the first in Western New York. Bonaventure made the trip to Macon, Ga. for a contest on March 4, 2020 and the Bears claimed a 17-8 win in the final game played that season before the pandemic shutdown.

Current Bonnies assistant coach Brett Beetow scored a goal and had two faceoff wins that day.

ABOUT CLEVELAND STATE

• The Vikings enter the weekend at 2-4 on the year and are seeking their first road win, suffering all four of their losses away from home. Cleveland State has dropped road contests at Ohio State (14-4), No. 1 Notre Dame (24-6), Marquette (15-7) and No. 20 Michigan (19-5) in a challenging non-conference slate. CSU last played on Tuesday at Michigan. At home, the Vikings have scored wins over Canisius (11-8) and Bellarmine (16-10).
• CSU was selected second in the NEC preseason poll, meaning that the Bonnies will face the top two teams in the NEC this year – SBU led in the fourth quarter at preseason conference favorite Robert Morris before a one-goal setback.
• Cleveland State made its first-ever postseason appearance in 2024, beating Bellarmine in the ASUN quarterfinals and setting the program record for wins with a 9-8 record. Head coach Andy German was named ASUN Coach of the Year while returners Wyatt Robertson (attack) and Griffin Valli (defense) were both named to the ASUN All-Freshman Team.

SERIES HISTORY
The Bonnies and Vikings have met five times previously with CSU owning a 3-2 series lead. The Vikings have taken each of the last two meetings, 10-8 last year in Cleveland and 13-6 in 2023 at the Marra Athletics Complex. Bona swept a unique home-and-home doubleheader two days apart on March 11 and 13, 2022 for their two wins.