From his vantage point as one of Villanova's starting center backs – he's logged every one of the 360 regular season minutes the Wildcats have played thus far – Jack Bonas has a unique vantage point. The ball movement plays out largely in front of him except when he isn't chasing down an opposing forward with designs on getting one past goalkeeper Kent Dickey.
 
A team co-captain alongside Gray Ricca, Bonas is upbeat as the Wildcats (0-2-2 overall) prepare to open the BIG EAST portion of their schedule Friday at the Higgins Soccer Complex against Butler (0-3-1 overall). The match kicks off at 3 p.m. and will be live streamed via the BIG EAST Digital Network.
 
"It's not been the start we wanted," states Bonas, a native of Newtown, Pa., "but it's definitely trending upward."
 
The Wildcats opened the campaign with losses at Albany and NJIT. They earned draws last week at home against Michigan State (1-1) and FDU (0-0).
 
"NJIT was kind of an outlier game," he says. "They had four chances and (scored) on all four chances. We had numerous chances that we didn't take the opportunity to score on. In the Albany game, we were still knocking some rust off.
 
"I thought we took a really big step against Michigan State, and we did the same thing against FDU, though we left some points on the table."
 
The Wildcats have been working to integrate seven freshmen into a group featuring such stalwart holdovers as Ricca, Marcus Brenes, Dominic Cyriacks, Balthi Saunders, Dickey and Bonas. There was also a twist in the preseason, when longtime associate head coach Mark Fetrow departed to become the new head coach at Drexel.
 
Bonas' connection to Fetrow goes further back than their time together with the Wildcats. As a ninth grader Fetrow coached Bonas in club soccer.
 
"He was really the person who got me thinking about Villanova," states the senior.
 
The path to high-level soccer for Bonas was paved in some ways by his older brothers, Gavin and Grant. Both were skilled players through their high school careers.
 
"Ever since I saw them kicking a ball," Jack Bonas notes, "I was trying to kick a ball too."
 
As he grew, Bonas found his way on to a club team named Patriots. It made no difference that he was often playing against athletes a year or two older than him. The norm was that he played up a level or two. By the sixth grade he moved over to Yardley-Mayfield Soccer. Alas, when most of his older teammates moved on to high school, he was left without a fall soccer home.

A pal from his time with Patriots suggested FC Delco in Delaware County as a place that could give him the opportunity he sought. It would require a 45-minute ride each way, a minimum of four nights a week, and road trips to places as distant as Montreal and Richmond, Va. Bonas made the commitment to do it and never looked back.
 
"It was fun," he says now. "It's where I took my biggest strides in growth as a soccer player. It was such a consistently good level of soccer."
 
Bonas noticed something else upon becoming a part of FC Delco. Several of his teammates were being recruited by and enrolling at major programs in college soccer.
 
"As an eighth grader I saw my teammates signing with high-level college teams," he notes. "That's when I really began to think about college."
 
His first inclination was to look at the military academies, Army and Navy. He attended camps at each but there didn't seem to be any early traction there. But at the start of his ninth-grade year, he met Fetrow and the pair formed a bond. Villanova quickly shot to the top of his list and he made a verbal commitment to the Wildcats as a high school junior.
 
"As soon as they gave me an offer," he states, "I was sold."
 
Academics played a significant role in the selection too. His father, Drew Bonas is a Duke graduate. Mom Laura Bonas is a Penn State alum. Brother Gavin attended Wake Forest and thrived in its business school.
 
"I've got a great family that has been so supportive of me," he says of the process.
 
All of that planning, preparation and excitement, however, was turned upside down by COVID-19. When Bonas enrolled as a freshman, the University was operating under a series of protocols designed to minimize the spread of the virus before vaccines were available. Many classes were held virtually. Dorm life was carefully structured. And no fall intercollegiate sports were played.
 
"It was interesting," says Bonas now. "A lot of masks and social distancing. It was really strange, like nothing I had ever done or seen. We were running fitness tests with masks on. There was a little pod of (teammates) you were allowed to be in contact with."
 
When intercollegiate action did resume in the spring of 2021, the Wildcats played a chunk of their games in rugged conditions with frigid temperatures. In February, piles of snow surrounded the cleared pitch on West Campus.
 
"We had nothing but snow that year," he says with a rueful chuckle. "It was built up around the field. We called it the snow dome. It was freezing."
 
The trials of 2020-21 paid off, however, with an historic fall 2021 campaign. With vaccines then available and restrictions relaxed, Villanova reached the BIG EAST Tournament in the fall of '21 and rallied to knock off Creighton 2-1 in the opening round. That locked down an NCAA Tournament bid that ultimately saw the 'Cats knock off Vermont 1-0 before falling at Notre Dame in the round of 32.
 
As part of his arsenal, Bonas features the ability to target his throw-ins to teammates 25-30 yards away. It's a weapon that sometimes mimics a corner kick, allowing a teammate to run under it and re-direct on frame. In that 2021 Big East opening round match against the Bluejays, Bonas recalls a heckler taunting him as he got set to fire a throw-in late in the match.
 
"What's he going to do, fire it all the way into the box?" the fan asked.
 
The Bonas two-handed feed found the head of Akinjide Awujo, who re-directed it into the goal. Bonas confesses that he couldn't resist turning back towards the stands to remind his critic that he had done exactly what the fan suggested he could not.
 
Bonas has remained a defensive linchpin over these last two seasons. He helps control the area in front of Dickey and often moves forward on set pieces near the opponent goal. Now he is in a leadership post as the BIG EAST gets underway.
 
"For us, I think consistency is the big thing," he states. "It's not a conference where you can take a day off. There is no underestimating an opponent in the Big East. It's a really tough battle. We need to be confident in who we are and how we play as a team."
 
Part of it entails helping a talented group of newcomers quickly acclimate to soccer in an elite league.
 
"We had a lot of soft-tissue injuries last year so having this kind of depth, where we get guys more breaks, is huge," Bonas states. "We play 17 games in one semester. It's a sprint. That depth helps us stay fit, but it also helps us gain a little edge. If the other team doesn't sub as much as we do, we'll have the fresher legs."
 
Bonas is on track to graduate next spring with a degree in Finance and Real Estate. The short-term goal is to play soccer professionally before perhaps delving into a business career centered on the construction side of the real estate world.
 
That, though, is for later. Job one is a BIG EAST regular season that kicks off Friday at the Higgins Soccer Complex.