LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The Bellarmine University lacrosse team faces one of its toughest challenges in program history on Wednesday as the Knights travel to South Bend, Indiana to take on the top-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
The game marks the third time Bellarmine has battled with a team holding a No. 1 ranking. Both previous meetings came in the 2006 season when the Knights squared off against Duke and Virginia when they were No. 1.
This season, Bellarmine is off to a 1-1 start having won its home opener 11-10 over Robert Morris and losing 9-7 at Marquette.
In the early going,
Tucker Ciessau is leading the Knights scoring attack with five goals and an assist.
Dylan Gatt and
Jack Perkins have each scored four goals on the season.
Ryan Broderick has been a solid set-up man with five assists in the BU's two games.
On defense, Bellarmine is led by former All American
Bobby Schmitt and All-Southern Conference long stick middie
Taylor Stuart, who has disrupted opposing offenses to the tune of seven caused turnovers in just two games. Schmitt was named the Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Week last week.
Between the pipes,
Chase Rose has logged all 120 minutes at the goalie position for Bellarmine, racking up 21 saves with a 52.5 percent save percentage.
Sophomore
Connor Harryman has gotten off to a lightning-fast start in the "X," winning 70 percent of the faceoffs he has contested. In the home opener against Robert Morris, he was nearly perfect winning 21 of 24.
Notre Dame is ranked No. 1 in the Nike/Lacrosse Magazine Poll and the Cascade/Maverik Media Poll while holding down the No. 2 position in the USILA coaches poll.
The Fighting Irish come into the 2016 season with six different players having earned preseason All-America accolades from Inside Lacrosse's 2016 Face-off Yearbook. Senior attackman Matt Kavanagh, junior midfielder Sergio Perkovic and senior defenseman Matt Landis all merited first-team honors, while junior defenseman Garrett Epple made the second team. Honorable mention picks included sophomore attackman Mikey Wynne and sophomore midfielder Brendan Collins.
Notre Dame got its season off to a successful start last Saturday with a 12-7 triumph over 13th-ranked Georgetown in Kennesaw, Georgia. Perkovic notched a team-high four goals, and junior goaltender Shane Doss got off to a hot start, making six saves in the opening period. Kavanagh excelled from behind the cage, finishing with a goal and four assists, three of them on Perkovic goals. Faceoff specialist P.J. Finley dominated those events, winning 16 of 21. Doss finished with 14 saves, as the Irish produced a strong 35-23 edge in ground balls.
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BELLARMINE (1-1) vs. NOTRE DAME (1-0)
DATE: Wednesday, February 24, 2016 • 5 p.m. (EST)
TIME: 5 p.m. (ET)
SITE: Loftus Sports Center (indoors) • Notre Dame, IndianaLIVE STATSLIVE VIDEO
