Despite an 0-3 record, the Bonnies’ young core are enjoying the ride
As a bitter winter continues in New York, the spring lacrosse season gets underway. The St. Bonaventure men’s lacrosse team made their collegiate Division I and conference debut in the span of two weeks.
The season for the Bonnies has been a roller coaster thus far. Suffering a 13-0 loss to High Point University in their Division I debut, followed by a 15-7 loss to St. Joseph’s, both games on the road. The Bonnies finally made their Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference debut, losing a close contest to Manhattan University 15-13 last Saturday.
The pressure that comes with playing at the Division I level did not seem to affect the play of freshman attackman Jackson Rose. Rose capped off a strong preseason with four goals in against Manhattan University.
When asked about his first experiences playing at the Division 1 level, Rose said, “The competition is next level, but we just need to keep getting better.”
Adjusting to a higher level of play was not the only tweaking Rose had to make to his game this season. Having played high school lacrosse in Lakeway, Texas, the cold and snowy weather came as a bit of a shock to the system for Rose.
Rose said, “The cold has been tough, and it has been different getting used to the sticks in the snow.”
Even with the close loss to Manhattan, Rose and his freshman teammate, goalkeeper Brett Dobson, found a significant number of positives in the loss. Dobson said, “We brought energy and took note of everything so that we don’t get pushed around again.”
For Rose, he said it was good to see the team can compete and prove they can hang with this competition.
Despite being eager push to win now, Rose and Dobson recognize the team is majority freshman.
Dobson said, “there is a learning curve playing against older guys.”
The team makes history in their next game on March 9, playing the first home game in program history against the University of Detroit Mercy. The squad hopes to build on the recent experiences and gather up some conference wins.
Dobson outlined the path to a postseason berth saying, “We need four MAAC wins in order to the make it to the postseason, and the goal is to win a national championship.”
Dobson was extremely optimistic about the future the team is building towards saying, “This season will set a foundation,” but Dobson is focused on the now, and that means competing in every game.
“We need to keep it dialed in because we want to get wins and prove we belong,” Rose said.
Although team is forced to admit they are inexperienced and young, that does not mean they will be backing away from any challenges Division I brings. Both Dobson and Rose spoke for the team, leaving the consensus that this team will be no pushover merely due to age.
The first men’s lacrosse home game is Saturday, March 9 at 6 p.m. at the Marra Athletic Fields Complex.
By John Pullano, Opinion Editor
pullanjj18@bonaventure.edu
