BY ANDREW HALE, SPORTS ASSIGNMENT EDITOR
The last time the St. Bonaventure men’s lacrosse team touched the turf was during their close 8-7 loss to Manhattan in the 2022 MAAC Championship game.
Much has changed since the Bonnies’ final game last May. Six Bonnies players were drafted into the National Lacrosse League in September, three of whom are returning for their fifth season. Graduate seniors and NLL draftees, Zack Belter, Sean Westley and Austin Blumberg have all been named 2023 team captains.
“When they get the opportunity to go pro and are building towards it, they just put their love and their heart into their craft,” St. Bonaventure head coach Randy Mearns said. “We’re excited that we have three of them coming back for their fifth year, with five other fifth-year guys – we’re excited to get this journey going in 2023.”
The Brown and White will look to utilize the veteran leadership on the field this season with 14 freshmen on the roster.
“Sean Westley, Austin Blumberg and Zack Belter provide an incredible amount of leadership on all sides of the ball,” Mearns said. “They are great examples of work ethic and believing in their dream and continuing to put everything towards making that dream a reality. Eighty-five percent of the roster is trying to follow in their footsteps so here at St. Bonaventure there’s a pathway to get them to that dream of playing professionally.”
2023 also marks the inaugural season for lacrosse in the Atlantic 10. Bonaventure comes in last at number six in the first-ever A-10 Preseason Poll. Richmond comes in at number one, followed by St. Joseph’s, Massachusetts, High Point and Hobart. St. Joseph’s and Richmond are ranked 15th and 20th in the national Men’s Division I Media Poll, respectively.
While the Bonnies aren’t predicated to make much noise this season in the highly competitive A-10, they’ll look to build off their success after an 11-4 campaign.
“We have four teams who, in the last three years have been top 20 programs, so for us, we continue to talk about ‘how can we build our program so that we can fight for a national championship,’” Mearns said. “It’s about the dream and where this journey is going to take us. You get to establish it here, you aren’t joining it, you get to actually build it and that’s what is special.”
The Bonnies start their journey to the inaugural A-10 Championship on Saturday, with their first test coming against Bellarmine.
The two teams met last season with the Bonnies beating the Knights 13-12. Bonaventure comes into the game having film on the Knights, as Bellarmine has already begun its season, falling to No. 7 Duke last week.
“Bellarmine is very talented,” Mearns said. “They had 22 saves against Duke. They have guys up front, they’re good between the lines, very good faceoff, and their defense is long. This will be our first true test and we’re going to see what this new 2022-23 Bonaventure team looks like on Saturday.”
Both teams have improved and have gathered some experience since their previous meeting in St. Bonaventure last February.
“Bellarmine was still a little bit of a young team last year,” Mearns said. “Last year was a big learning curve for coach Whitley and his staff, but they had the year to get better and go through their season. Now they’re experienced and have chemistry and are trying to do something amazing just like we are.”
The Bonnies open the 2023 season Saturday, as they travel to Louisville, Kentucky where they’ll take on the Bellarmine Knights for the second time in as many years.
halea22@bonaventure.edu
