ST. BONAVENTURE (2-3) at MERCYHURST (1-5)
Tuesday, March 3 – 2:00 p.m.
Erie, Pa.
TV: NEC Front Row

ST. BONAVENTURE at CLEVELAND STATE (1-4)
Saturday, March 7 – 1:00 p.m.
Cleveland, Ohio
TV: ESPN+

OPENING FACEOFF
St. Bonaventure hits the road for a pair of non-conference matchups this week, heading to Mercyhurst on Tuesday and then playing at Cleveland State on Saturday. The Bonnies look to shake off a two-game losing skid against a pair of squads they picked up wins against on home turf last year.

RISING UP THE RANKS
Junior Patrick Shanahan registered three points (2G-1A) in last Saturday's game against Le Moyne and has tallied multiple points in three straight contests. He enters this week tied for fifth in Bona's Division I era for career goals at 39 along with Kellen Pulera '25. His 56 career points recently moved him into sixth in the SBU record book with Jackson Rose '22 next up at 63 points.

ICE COLE
Cole Kucinski continues his breakout sophomore season, scoring for the fourth consecutive game last Saturday, tallying multiple goals in three of those contests. Entering this week, Kucinski stands tied for third among all Atlantic 10 players with 12 goals thus far this season behind only Jack Turowsky of UMass (14) and Lucas Littlejohn of Richmond (13).

TURNOVER TASSE
Redshirt junior Owen Tasse continues to be dominant for the Bonnies defense. He caused five turnovers with four groundballs in last Saturday's game. That performance marks the second-most caused turnovers in a single game by a Bonnie, behind only his own program record of six set in a game vs. Mercer last year.

Tasse currently ranks second among all A-10 players with 12 caused turnovers on the year, behind only Colman Craft of Hobart (17) and he also stands tied for seventh among all Division I players this spring. Tasse's 22 groundballs also stand tied for fourth in the conference.

Now with 36 caused turnovers in his career, Tasse stands fourth in Bona Division I history, two away from a tie for second with Nick Conklin '23 and Brady Wijbrandts '23 (38). Zack Belter '22, '23, a multi-time NLL champion with the Buffalo Bandits, owns the program record with 62.  

SPEAKING OF DEFENSE
The Bonnies rank highly in a pair of defensive categories through five games this season. SBU has been one of the country's best at the penalty kill so far, allowing just one man-down goal on the year to rank eighth nationally in penalty kill percentage (87.5%). The Bonnies are also one of the nation's least penalized teams, averaging just 1:12 minutes of penalty time per game.

Bona's ride has often caused issues for opponents as well – Bonnies opponents clear percentage checks in at 81.6% for the year, putting SBU 22^nd nationally in opponent clear percentage.

WHAT A LAD
Bonnies sophomore Lad Harper posted a week to remember at the faceoff dot last week. At Bellarmine last Tuesday, he went 20-for-27 in faceoff tries, setting a new Bonnies program single-game record with 20 faceoff wins. He missed two games earlier in the year due to illness, but has been outstanding in his three games played – his .661 faceoff win percentage is best among all Atlantic 10 players thus far this year.

Sophomore Jeremy Askin also has a .527 winning percentage thus far, helping the Bonnies to rank 16^th nationally at the faceoff dot as a team (.591).

MERCYHURST NOTES

• The Lakers are 1-5 on the season, scoring a home win over Canisius on Feb. 17 (10-8). Tuesday will be the third home game of the year for the Lakers – they also took UMass Lowell to the brink in a 14-13 thriller on Feb. 14. The Lakers have two opponents in common with the Bonnies so far – SBU defeated Binghamton on the road, 10-9, last month, while the Lakers lost at Binghamton, 12-6, in their last game on Feb. 27. Both teams have made the trip to Bellarmine as well – while the Bonnies suffered a 14-12 setback at Bellarmine last week, the Lakers dropped a 17-9 final there on Feb. 7.
• Mercyhurst joined the Division I ranks last year, finishing the year 2-11 overall and 1-6 in NEC play. The Lakers picked up their first conference win in last year's season finale, a 12-11 double overtime triumph at home over Wagner.
• Four players have double-figure points through six games – Chase Petschke (6G-6A), Robert Madden (7G-4A), Mason Blakeman (10G-0A) and Ryan Mahoney (5G-5A).

SERIES HISTORY VS. MERCYHURST
St. Bonaventure leads, 1-0
The Bonnies will be making their first-ever trip to Mercyhurst after taking an 11-9 win at home last February. Patrick Shanahan tallied a hat trick and four points for Bona (3G-1A) while defensively, Cameron Viavada, Owen Tasse and Benny Carter all registered two caused turnovers apiece and Isaac Farmer made six saves to earn the win in net.

CLEVELAND STATE NOTES

• The Vikings start the week at 1-4 overall, fresh off their first win of the year at Canisius (13-9) over the weekend. CSU has faced a tough early season schedule with losses at Denver (20-1), No. 10 Ohio State (17-7), Bellarmine (10-7) and home vs. Marquette (9-7). Cleveland State is idle this week and will have a full week of rest before hosting the Bonnies on Saturday.
• Cleveland State went 4-10 last year and 2-5 in their first season in the NEC. CSU went 44-73 over their first nine seasons at the Division I level.
• CSU ranks 73^rd nationally in scoring offense thus far at seven goals per game, but has found success on the man-up, converting over 53 percent of opportunities to rank 11^th in D-I.
• Brennen Hickey paces the offense at over three points per game while goalie Justin Dalum makes 11 saves per contest.

SERIES HISTORY
Series tied, 3-3
The Bonnies and Vikings are familiar foes, having met six times previously with the first coming in Bona's initial season at the Division I level when CSU claimed an 18-5 home win during the 2019 campaign. Bona picked up its lone win at CSU in three tries when it capped off a unique 2022 home-and-home Friday/Sunday weekend series with a sweep, winning on the road by an 11-10 tally after a 12-5 victory less than 48 hours prior. The Vikings took the last meeting in Ohio – 10-8 in 2024, but the Bonnies triumphed in last year's meeting in WNY, 8-6.

Shanahan and Cole Tucker each notched goals in last year's game while Aaron Eberhard (three caused turnovers, two groundballs) and Viavada (two caused turnovers) as well as Farmer (10 saves) all shined defensively.

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