The new St. Bonaventure men’s lacrosse team will compete in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, the conference announced Monday.

The Bonnies, set to debut next spring, will be an associate member of the MAAC. The school otherwise competes in the Atlantic 10, which does not sponsore men’s lacrosse.

St. Bonaventure announced the addition of men’s lacrosse March 21, 2017. Three months later, longtime Canisius and current Canadian national team coach Randy Mearns was hired to helm the program. Mearns previously led the Griffins to MAAC championships and NCAA tournament appearances in 2008 and 2012. He spent 19 years coaching in the conference while at Canisius.

The Griffins, now under the guidance of Mark Miyashita, won the 2018 MAAC title and automatic qualifier with a 10-9 win over Detroit Mercy, punching their ticket to the NCAA tournament when Mathieu Boissonneault intercepted a pass off the opening faceoff of overtime and scored on an open goal.

“Being involved in the conference previously for 19 years, I can attest to the phenomenal coaches and athletes that make up MAAC lacrosse,” Mearns said in the announcement. “The talent level is just incredible. Being officially a member now we have our work cut out for us. It’s an amazing opportunity and challenge, but we are grateful to have a home and a chance to evolve into an automatic qualifier conference that will give us an opportunity to compete for a spot in the NCAA tournament.”