ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – Saint Joseph's sophomore face-off specialist Zach Cole went 88.0 percent from the X and redshirt freshman attackman Levi Anderson dropped a game-high five points in his collegiate debut to lead the Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse squad (1-0) to a 15-8 victory over St. Bonaventure (0-1) in a game played at the Buffalo Bills ADPRO Training Center on Sunday afternoon.

Cole won a career-high 24 possessions in a career-high 27 opportunities en route to his career-high 88.0-percent showing. The sophomore was a perfect 7-of-7 and 5-of-5 in the second and fourth quarters, respectively, and won 10 in a row spanning the entire second quarter through the opening 1:58 of the third. Cole added a game- and career-high 22 ground balls and a fourth-quarter goal in the win.

Anderson scored a team-high four goals and added a helper to lead 11 Hawks with at least one point. Freshman attackman Mac McLaughlin and freshman midfielder Matt Bohmer scored twice each while the junior trio of attackmen Matt Tufano and Nate Patterson and midfielder Evan Campbell went for one goal and two assists apiece.

Senior goalkeeper Mike Adler (1-0) picked up his 18th career win in net, making six saves as he and his close defense unit of seniors Tyler Makar and Josh Bosher and redshirt freshman Joe Burnham allowed just eight goals for the full 60:00.

How It Happened
Q1 – After St. Bonaventure's Jake Rosa opened the scoring (13:39) with his first of four on the day, the Hawks responded with two goals over the next 3:02, courtesy McLaughlin (13:02) and junior attackman Shane Fable (10:37), and added a third from Patterson (3:41). The Hawks then repeated the process when, after Rosa netted his second (2:53), SJU ripped off three more from McLaughlin (2:39), Anderson (1:03), and redshirt freshman Kevin Vandegrift (:09, EMO) to close the quarter up by four, 6-2.

Q2 – The Bonnies scored twice to open the second quarter to inch to within two, but Bohmer (7:26), junior midfielder Austin Strazzulla (4:13), and Anderson (3:28) hit the back of the net on the way to a 9-5 SJU edge by the halftime break.

Q3 & Q4 – After Anderson completed his hat trick with his third goal of the game to open the third quarter (12:54), the Bonnies scored twice to pull to within three goals, 10-7, at the 7:26 mark. At a moment where it was imperative to keep St. Bonaventure from making a run, the Hawks did just that, as Tufano (5:09) and Bohmer (3:02) closed the third with goals, junior long stick midfielder Sean Voelkel, Tufano, and Bosher caused turnovers, Adler made a pair of big stops, and Campbell (12:31) opened the fourth with an unassisted strike. Leading by five with 3:54 to play in regulation, Anderson netted his fourth of the game and, on the ensuing possession, Cole won his 23rd possession and took it all the way for the score (3:42) just 12 seconds later.

Behind the Boxscore
• Eight rookie Hawks made their collegiate debuts, as McLaughlin (A), Anderson (A), Bohmer (M), and Burnham (D) earned starts and freshman midfielders Ryan Overbay, Kevin Vandegrift, and Colin Reich and long stick midfielder James Peters saw minutes off the bench.
• For his career, Cole is now 43-for-50 from the X (with 25 ground balls and two goals) against the Bonnies.
• Earning a spot as the secondary LSM behind senior Liam Hare, Voelkel turned in an exceptional performance with two ground balls and a game-high three caused turnovers.
• The Hawks held edges over the Bonnies in shots, 48-34 and ground balls, 35-18.

Postgame Thoughts from Coach Wray
"Zach Cole was a force to be reckoned with today. What makes him special is his ability to pick up the ball under distress and deal with pressure. He is one of the best athletes on our roster, and to be as talented as he is facing off makes him a very difficult match-up."

"I was so excited for Levi Anderson to make the impact that he did today. He has been waiting for this opportunity for so long, and he is only scratching the surface of his capabilities. He is only going to get better as he gets more comfortable out there."

"I was really pleased with our freshmen overall today. We had five freshmen score their first overall points and 11 total points come from freshmen. I thought Matt Bohmer played with terrific poise on our first midfield and both Colin Reich and Ryan Overbay made solid contributions on our second midfield."

"The junior trio of Evan Campbell, Austin Strazzulla, and Matt Tufano was a steady force for us on offense. Shane Fable did a great job as a facilitator and gave some veteran presence to our midfield. I thought he played really, really hard and made great decisions with the ball."

"Defensively, Mike Adler played really well; he has been terrific for us this preseason, and he was on point again today. He steals a few each game."

"We made a ton of mistakes, and we have a lot to clean up. We are still a young team, and we will improve over the course of the season. Every mistake will be amplified up at Penn State next weekend. You slip up in the slightest and they will make you pay."

Up Next
To be the best, you play the best. Saint Joseph's heads to Penn State (2-0) this Saturday, February 15. Opening face-off in University Park, Pa. is set for noon. The Nittany Lions are the #2 ranked team in this week's USILA/Warrior and New Balance Coaches Poll and the #1 ranked team in both the Inside Lacrosse and US Lacrosse Magazine Media Polls.