GAFFNEY, S.C.—The Bellarmine Knights finally bested the Limestone Saints today in a battle of teams that entered tied for second in the Eastern College Athletic Conference. After falling 11 straight times to the Saints dating back to the 2012 season, the Knights came up with a goal in the 63rd minute to pull out the 3-2 victory at Saints Field.
 
"What a weekend," said Bellarmine Coach Mark Blankenbaker, referring to road wins on three consecutive days.  "Getting three wins was important.  The girls were very focused and did a great job executing corners—scoring on two. Limestone was tough today. They are well coached and play with a lot of energy."
 
Bellarmine drew first blood on an Aimee Ilgenfritz goal off an assist from Kathryn Schneidtmiller less than seven minutes into the action. 
 
The host Saints (8-8, 4-3 ECAC) evened the score about 20 minutes later, and the teams into halftime deadlocked at one.
 
Bellarmine's Kelsey O'Bryan then gave the Knights a lead when she converted a feed from Ilgenfritz during a penalty corner 10 and a half minutes into the second period.
 
The Knights were able to keep Limestone off the scoreboard, despite the Saints owning advantages in both shots and penalty corners, but with less than 10 minutes remaining Limestone finally broke through for the tying goal off a penalty corner.
 
However, the Knights came right back and pushed the ball into the attack end, where Elle Lichte was able to convert when she collected a rebounded shot of the stick of Caroline Krill and stuffed it back into the cage for the eventual game winner with just over seven minutes remaining.
 
The Knights (12-5, 5-2 ECAC) defense then stepped up and didn't surrender another shot as they hung on for the 3-2 victory.
 
"The girls dug down deep and fought to the very last second of the game," Blankenbaker said. 
 
"We made adjustments at halftime to be more patient on defense," Blankenbaker added. "I have to give credit to Heather Gregory, she has been getting better every game in goal, and played maybe her best game today."
 
Final statistics showed the Saints outshooting the Knights- 14-11 and owning a 14-5 edge in penalty corners. Bellarmine held a 5-4 advantage in saves, with one of the Knights coming as a defensive save by Carly Anson.
 
 
The Knights conclude their regular season on Saturday at Lindenwood in St. Charles, Missouri. The game will be for the ECAC regular season title as the Lions currently sit atop the standings at 6-1 with the Knights in second at 5-2.
 
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BOX SCORE (HTM)