St. Bonaventure Women's Rugby Football Club played its first match on May 2, 1998, versus Fredonia. SBU won the match. The team was coached by Bruce Snyder and Brad Eastham was the assistant coach. Paula Noga, Julie Thompson, Laura Biviano, Danielle Kneller and Shelley McClarigan were captains on the team. A great memory from this day was when the team preformed celebratory mud slides after the match.
In Fall of 1998, the team was suspended and therefore went 0-6 in the season. Teams in the league included Hamilton College, Ithaca College, RIT, Rochester, St. John Fisher, and William Smith.
In the spring of 1999, the team was reinstated and played three matches versus Alfred, St. John Fisher and Fredonia.
The team's first official season as members of the NYS Rugby Union began in fall of 1999. The team played in Division 3 and ended the season 6-0 in the Women's Excelsior Division, beating SUNY Albany, Buffalo State, St. John Fisher, SUNY Oneonta, Rochester, and William Smith. The team traveled to states for the first time in Bonaventure history on October 31, 1999. States were held at Aardvark Park in Rochester, NY where they faced Albany. The team won with a score of 22-5. The MVP of the state match was Molly McNamara, the team's fullback.The women did not continue onto the NRU Championship match that year. Once Snyder graduated, the team resorted to having upperclassmen as coaches because no one else was available to help the team out.
In fall 2000, the team ended its season 2-3-1, fourth in the Empire West Division. They faced Ithaca College, Syracuse University, SUNY Oswego, SUNY Alfred, SUNY Brockport, and SUNY Fredonia. The captains, Paula Noga, Lauren Barbati, Molly Dillon and Becky Lippa, managed the team.
In fall 2001, the team ended the season 1-3, sixth place in the Empire West Division. The captains were Becky Lippa (president), Corinne Kelly, Theresa Boucher and Nichole Forman. They faced Hamilton College, SUNY Brockport, Buffalo State, St. John Fisher College, SUNY Oswego, SUNY Fredonia and SUNY Alfred.
In fall 2002, the team competed in the Western Division II League and finished in fourth place with a record of 1-3. They faced SUNY Brockport, Buffalo State, Niagara University, SUNY Fredonia and SUNY Alfred.
In fall 2003, the captains were Kathleen Crowley and Katie Hall with Tracy Schrems as advisor. The team faced Niagara University, SUNY Brockport, Fredonia, Buffalo State, and SUNY Alfred in the Western Division II League. They ended their season with a record of 2-4. The team went to playoffs held at Genesee Community College in Batavia where they lost in the first round to LeMoyne College by one try.
In fall 2004, the captains remained Crowley and Hall with Schrems as their advisor. The team faced Niagara University, LeMoyne College, William Smith College, SUNY Cortland and SUNY Alfred in the West Division III League. The team made it to the playoffs after finishing the regular season No. 2 in their division on Oct. 30, 2004. They lost 7-5 in the first round to Oswego by one kick. Playoffs were held at Genesee Community College in Batavia.
In fall 2005, the captains were Katie Hall and Mandy Bottomlee with Schrems as advisor. The team ended the season 3-1 and tied for first place in the West Division III League with LeMoyne. The team faced LeMoyne College, Niagara University, William Smith College, Cornell University B, and SUNY Alfred. The team advanced to playoffs held at Genesee CC on Oct. 29, 2005, losing in the first round to Siena College by one try.
In fall 2006, the same captains remained, as did the advisor. The team competed in the Division III Excelsior West League where they faced LeMoyne College, Canisius College, Niagara University, William Smith College, Cornell University B, and SUNY Alfred. The team ended the season 4-1 in the league with a three-way tie between LeMoyne and Canisius. Playoffs on were held on Oct. 21 at St. Lawrence University, where SBU faced SUNY Oswego and beat them 50-0. Next they advanced to the finals against Hamilton College. Hamilton earned a 1-0 (kicks) win over St. Bonaventure after playing almost 110 minutes of rugby.
In fall 2007, the captains were Mandy Bottomless and Jannalay Carlson. The team competed in the Division III Excelsior West League where they faced Canisius College, LeMoyne College, Niagara University, St. John Fisher College, and William Smith College. The team did not make it to playoffs this year but ended the season in third place with a 2-3 record in their division.
In fall 2008, the captains were Andria Cuello and ? The advisor was AJ Goodman. The team competed in the Division III Excelsior West League where they faced LeMoyne College, St. John Fisher College, Niagara University and William Smith College. The team ended their season 3-1. They traveled to playoffs on Oct. 25 where they faced Albany and lost 7-5.
In fall 2009, the captains were Emily Wood and Carrie Howland and the advisor was AJ Goodman. The team competed in the Division III Excelsior West League where they faced University of Rochester, Niagara University, St. John Fisher College and William Smith College. The team ended their season 0-4 in the league and did not advance to playoffs.
In fall 2010, the captain was Kirsten Norrell and AJ Goodman was still the advisor. The team competed in the Division III Excelsior West League where they faced Niagara University, St. John Fisher College, Geneseo 2, SUNY Oswego and William Smith College. The team improved to 3-2 in the league and also continued to be self-coached but did not make it to playoffs.
Fall 2011 was a turn-around season for the Legends. At this time, the club's advisor and coach was grad student Gizzel Edmund. The assistant coach was Tracy Schrems. Co-captains were Jessica Misiaszek and Kayla O'Keefe. President was Nichole Dylag, and treasurer was Marie Dirle.
The team went 5-0 in the West Division III NYS Rugby Conference beating Canisius, William Smith College, Geneseo, St. John Fisher and rival Niagara University. The next time the SBUWRFC won states was Oct. 23, 2011, versus Plattsburgh with a score of 12-0.
After winning the state title, the team headed to Smith College in Northampton, Mass., to face Holy Cross in the quarterfinal nationals match. The team beat Holy Cross with a score of 26-28. They advanced to play in the semi-finals match where the team traveled to Cherry Hill, N.J., for the National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO) DIII playoffs.
On Nov. 19, 2011, the team faced its first loss in semi-final play versus Lock Haven University with a score of 34-10. The next day, the Legends played Wentworth Institute of Technology to play for third place. The team had a tough loss against Wentworth IT with a score of 19-17. The Legends ended their 10-week season with an 8-2 record, going unranked to 4th in the nation.
The summer before the fall 2012 rugby season, the NYS Rugby Conference was revamped. Not only was the team facing completely new teams, it also was officially renamed "The Bonnies" instead of the formerly known "Legends." The team is now playing in the Empire Rugby Football Union Geographic Union, a new division that is a compilation of the old NYS Rugby Division 1 and 2, where they face University of Buffalo, Geneseo, Fredonia, Syracuse, Ithaca College, Buffalo State and Brockport.
The Bonnies completed the fall 2012 season with a 4-3 record and ended in 4th place overall in the league. The team missed spring playoffs by one point, but will continue their spring tournament season in March 2013.