ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – For the second time in just over 48 hours, the St. Bonaventure defense locked down a victory at the Marra Athletics Complex as the Bonnies scored an 8-6 win over visiting Cleveland State Saturday afternoon.

In the early going, the two squads exchanged tallies as Drew Kenney got the Bonnies on the board first off a feed from Kyle Pepper two minutes in, later matched by Cleveland State's Amiri Austin's first of the day.

Pepper then found the twine at the 8:35 mark of the first, matched by CSU'S Wyatt Robinson a minute later.

Jake Kucinski fired home his first of two scores on the afternoon with 4:34 left in the first and the 2-1 lead stood until the first minute and a half of the second period when the Vikings answered for a 3-3 deadlock.

Cole Tucker briefly gave the Bonnies lead back with his second of the season but the Vikings again knotted the score 4-4 with 10:36 left before halftime.

From there, the Bonnies defense stifled the Vikings, keeping the visitors off the scoreboard for over 30 minutes of game time.

St. Bonaventure (4-4) grabbed a 6-4 lead at intermission with Kenney striking once more at the 8:20 mark of the second before flying into half as Kucinski took advantage of a man-up situation for a goal just four seconds before the buzzer.

The third period stood as a complete defensive stalemate as the entire period passed without a goal on either side, but the Bonnies found breathing room when Kenney completed his hat trick by pairing with Murphy for a three-goal advantage.

Cleveland State (2-5) finally broke its drought as Adam Van Voorhis scored with 5:41 left in the fourth, but Patrick Shanahan scooped up a loose ball in front and converted the rebound for another goal and just 1:41 to go.

The Vikings attempted to make things interesting with a goal on the man-up with 60 seconds left to get back within two, however, the 10^th save of the day by Isaac Farmer shut the door in the waning moments.

Pepper paced the Bonnies with four points (1G-3A) and also picked up two groundballs.

In addition to Farmer's strong play in net, Aaron Eberhard posted a career-high three caused turnovers with Cameron Viavada chipping in two CTs as well. Shanahan and Owen Tasse led the groundball game with three apiece.

Jeremy Askin gave the Bonnies traction in the faceoff circle after early struggles as he went 5-2 in attempts.

Cleveland State was paced in the faceoff dot by Robbie Stewart who won 10 faceoffs and registered seven groundballs. Justin Dalum made 11 saves in the cage as well.

GAME NOTES

• Kenney recorded his first career hat trick, continuing his career season with 15 points on the year.
• Pepper and Murphy are tied for the team lead with 18 points apiece this season.
• St. Bonaventure's defense surrendered just 11 goals combined in two wins this week, also beating Mercer in a 9-5 decision on Thursday. In the second half, the Bonnies allowed just three goals combined in the two victories.
• Bona forced seven failed clears from the Vikings as the visitors went 17-24 in clear attempts.
• SBU outshot CSU by a 40-28 margin.
• Bona's 15 turnovers were just one off their season-low of 14 at Le Moyne last weekend.

QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH RANDY MEARNS
"Today was another gritty effort by our guys. Our defense is really building confidence and chemistry and was a key factor in today's win. Our rope unit of Tasse, Viavada, Coke, Carter, Becker, Brennan and Burger are work horses and proved it once again today. Isaac was stellar in net and we were able to stay composed against the 10-man ride."

"Drew Kenney had a day and scored timely goals to keep the two-goal separation. It was just a big effort all-around with just 48 hours of rest. Our guys have worked hard and they'll take a few earned hours to enjoy this victory and then take on a quick turnaround with another battle 72 hours ahead at Canisius."

UP NEXT
St. Bonaventure has a rivalry matchup coming up at Canisius Tuesday afternoon. Faceoff time in Buffalo is set for 4 p.m.

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