LOUISVILLE, Ky. – For the first time in their history the University of Michigan Wolverines will be visiting Louisville and Owsley B. Frazier stadium to take on the Bellarmine University Knights lacrosse team. Added as an ECAC affiliate member in 2011, the Wolverines are playing in their first official conference campaign beginning with Bellarmine this Saturday.

Last season the Knights were able to go into Ann Arbor and beat the Wolverines in the Big House, in the first ever lacrosse game played in the historic stadium. After battling back from an early three goal deficit the Knights were able to take a 6-5 lead into halftime, but it was the first goal of the second half that Knights fans will remember.

While clearing the ball Knights goalie Dillon Ward noticed his Michigan counterpart had left the cage unattended. Ward pounced on the opportunity and launched a shot from nearly 70 yards away that flew into the Wolverines goal. This was not only the first goal of Ward's career but also his first shot.

With the momentum going Bellarmine's way the Knights stretched the lead to five goals before Michigan scored with 53 seconds remaining making the final score 13-9. 

The Knights had three major contributors on offense against the Wolverines. Lance Robinson tallied a hat trick while Austin Bright had a huge day with five total points, two goals and a trio of assists. Will Cary also notched two goals and an assist for the Knights. Bellarmine was also able to control the tempo of the game from the faceoff “x“ with Andrew Bulgarelli winning an impressive 65 percent (15-23) of his faceoff attempts.  

The Knights, coming off of a big win against Robert Morris, will look to capture their first home and ECAC win of the season. An experienced team on offense, the Knights will rely on seniors Michael Ward, Cary, and Robinson to dictate play in the attack box. Bellarmine will also expect solid play in between the boxes from senior midfielders Karsen Leung and Trevor Timmerberg, who is coming off of a solid two point performance at Robert Morris.

Defensively Bellarmine will again put a young group of long-poles on the field anchored by the outstanding sophomore LSM Bobby Schmitt. Schmitt, along with sophomore Michael Bender, will look to duplicate their impressive performances from Robert Morris, both getting on the score sheet scooping up four groundballs. With a young line-up of defenders it will be essential for senior goalkeepers Will Haas and Dillon Ward to stand tall in the crease.  

Although they are new to the conference, the Wolverines return a talented team that is hungry to improve on their 1-13 record from a year ago. Michigan returns two of their top three scorers from last season, both seniors. Thomas Paras accumulated 24 points while Willie Steenland tallied 23 points on the year. The Wolverines come into this game at 0-1 having lost 6-11 to the No. 15 Penn State Nittany Lions in their season opener.

Faceoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. February 16^th at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium.

Check out BUKnights.com for live stats and video streaming of the game.