Graphic: Courtesy of Allie Elkins
By Kyle Maier, Sports Assignment Editor
Two wins are all the St. Bonaventure’s men’s lacrosse team has to show after almost two seasons in the Atlantic 10 conference.
Nothing short of disappointing.
In May of 2022, the Bonnies left the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference for the newly formed A-10 Conference.
“Adding men’s lacrosse to the portfolio of A-10 sponsored sports provides a home for our four full-time members, who have requested this for several years,” said A-10 Commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade, according to GoBonnies.com.
Bonaventure joined fellow A-10 schools St. Joseph’s University, University of Massachusetts and University of Richmond, alongside affiliate members High Point University and Hobart College, as the conference’s initial six teams.
Bonaventure head coach Randy Mearns called the new league “A different level” and said, “We’ve got to be ready for a challenge.” per the Olean Times Herald.
The Bonnies were not ready for this challenge.
Since the beginning of the league’s inaugural 2023 season, the Bonnies stand 0-7 in conference play and 2-20 overall.
This move out of the MAAC came far too soon for the lacrosse program.
Logistically speaking, every SBU athletic program playing unified under one conference makes sense.
Nevertheless, Bonaventure simply cannot compete in the A-10.
A once-considered top-20 program now struggles to win against any opponent.
Remember, men’s lacrosse still stands as a relatively new program. Revived in 2017, the school played its first Division I season only five years ago.
During their time in the MAAC, the Brown and White went 15-28 with a 7-12 conference record in four seasons.
The Bonnies found tremendous success in 2022, going 11-4 and making the MAAC Championship, perhaps another factor in their move to the A-10.
But compare this season of success to the program resumes of its conference opponents and SBU looks grossly underqualified amongst these teams.
UMass, for example, has 20 NCAA tournament appearances and 11 quarter-final appearances, and it was placed as tournament runners-up in 2006.
Current #13 St. Josephs won eight conference championships and appeared in the NCAA tournament in 2022.
In the last ten years, Richmond secured five conference championships and five tournament bids.
High Point has made the NCAA tournament twice since forming in 2013.
Hobart began playing in 1898 and has made the tournament five times since advancing to Division I in 1995.
Bonaventure faces more established programs in conference play, proving difficult for a young team of 29 underclassmen still looking to find their footing.
The heavyweights of the A-10 have capitalized on this experience disparity.
The Bonnies have lost their conference matchups by an average of 12 goals in the past two seasons. In these losses, Brown and White exceeded 10 scores only twice.
With four (St. Joes, Richmond, Highpoint, and UMass) of the league’s six teams holding winning records through 2024, it will be strenuous for the Bonnies to climb the ranks against these programs in the immediate future.
Meanwhile, the MAAC, a league of ten teams, has only three teams with an above .500 record: Long Island University, Sacred Heart University and Virginia Military Institute.
Bonaventure would be much more suited to compete in a conference of that stature due to the team’s mid-major budget and smaller recruiting pull.
Any NCAA team that switches conferences experiences growing pains.
Moving up levels in the competition takes adjustments, and rebuilding before success comes, especially in collegiate athletics.
However, the Bonnies’ performances in the first two seasons of A-10 conference play call for serious concern.
Will SBU turn the tide and prove they can play amongst some of the nation’s best in the coming years or even this season?
Or will the move from the MAAC to the A-10 continue to bring hardship to SBU for seasons to come?
One thing seems inevitable: leaving the MAAC came far premature for the men’s lacrosse team.
I hope when I graduate in two years, my words here will be deemed premature.
maierkj22@bonaventure.edu
