Box Score GREENVILLE, S.C. — The Bellarmine University lacrosse team suffered a 9-7 loss to Furman in its Southern Conference opener on Saturday at Paladin Stadium.

Furman (2-5, 1-0 SoCon) broke a 7-all deadlock in the fourth quarter with a pair of goals. The Paladins' defense didn't allow Bellarmine (1-4, 0-1) to rally, as the Knights were shut out over the final 12 minutes of play.

Kenny Meinsen scored the go-ahead goal with 9:53 left by spinning away from a defender and depositing his shot into the net for an 8-7 lead. A little over three minutes later, Jonah Moore flashed out from behind the net and hurled in an insurance goal.

Freshman attack Andrew Schoeneck scored twice for Bellarmine, while senior attack Dylan Gatt, senior defender Colin Hart and sophomore attacks Tucker Ciessau, Austin Shanks and Jack Perkins added one goal apiece. Ciessau knotted the game at 7-7 with 12:27 left in the fourth period, but that was the last goal the Knights would score.

The game was a back-and-forth affair punctuated by five ties. Neither team ever led by more than two goals. Furman took a 7-5 advantage late in the third quarter, but Bellarmine tied it up early in the fourth.

Perkins scored off an assist from senior midfielder Daniel Zamora less than one minute into the game. Shanks put away his team-best 14th goal of the season in the first period off a look from Gatt, who gave Bellarmine its last lead at 5-4 with 10:19 left in the second period.

The Knights had to play catch up from there as the defenses largely controlled the final three quarters. The Paladins, who came into the game ranked second in the SoCon in goals-against average, only allowed Bellarmine two scores in the second half.

The Knights' goal-stopping unit was impressive as well, yielding only four goals after halftime. Goalkeeper Reilly McDermott corralled 10 saves for Furman, while freshman goalie Drew Goethals accumulated seven for Bellarmine. Each team won 10 face-offs, with BU freshman Connor Harryman scooping up a game-high seven ground balls.

Bellarmine will welcome Virginia Military Institute at 1 p.m. (ET) on Saturday in its Southern Conference home opener. VMI dropped to 0-7 after falling 8-3 to Jacksonville today.

BOX SCORE (HTM)