It was sheer hard work that earned him a starting position his sophomore season. And hard work that earned him a reputation as an aggressive backfielder and a dominant player in the air.

"I've put a lot aside for this season, for all the seasons," Bonnie says. "I try to strike a healthy balance, but I can't help but in the middle of class to be thinking of the next game, or the last game..."

He's made two trips to the NCAA tournament--in '86 and '87. Those games will not be forgotten easily, even though Bonnie refuses to watch the videotape of Harvard's penaltykick loss to San Diego St. in the semifinals last December.

A loss more painful than a broken nose and sprained ankle combined.

It's unlikely that Bonnie will make it back to the Final Four this year. But he knows there will be other games--games like the Princeton contest last weekend--that will mean just as much to him.

"I had to go back in," Bonnie says. "I just couldn't miss the fun, the excitement."

On the first play following his return to the field, Bonnie found a goalie punt coming right at him. The ball looked to him as if it was moving in slow motion--straight for his head.

"All I could think was, 'Is this going to hurt?'" Bonnie remembers.

Sure, it hurt.

Did he care? No. He was having too much fun to feel it.

"Hey, Princeton was great," Bonnie says. "I wouldn't trade my broken nose for anything."

Today's Home Game

Men's water polo vs. MIT, 8 p.m., Blodgett Pool