NOTRE DAME, Ind.—Facing the No. 1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the Bellarmine lacrosse team had a shaky start, but grew more competitive as the game wore on, falling by the final score of 11-6 in the non-conference game played indoors at the Loftus Sports Center.

Bellarmine (1-2) opened the game committing four turnovers before firing off its first shot. Meanwhile, the Fighting Irish offense was relentless in the early going, rifling 10 shots and netting three goals in the game's first six and a half minutes. 

The Knights finally got off a shot at the 5:04 mark in the first quarter, and then got on the board with 2:23 remaining when Brian Wall took a pass from Jack Perkins and ripped a shot from the right side of that beat Notre Dame goalie Shane Doss.

The Fighting Irish, who were making their 2016 home debut, answered the Bellarmine goal to extend their lead back to three at 4-1 after the first quarter of play.

The second quarter produced similar numbers, although the Knights registered two goals in the period with Andrew Schoeneck and Tanner Barco each collecting their season's first goals. At the end of the first half of play, Notre Dame held a commanding 27-7 advantage in shots and an 8-3 lead on the scoreboard.

The Knights were much more competitive in the second half, actually outshooting the Fighting Irish 15-12 in the last 30 minutes.

After Notre Dame (2-0) opened the scoring in the third period to take a 9-3 advantage, the Knights scored a pair of man-up goals to trim their deficit to just four. The fourth quarter saw no scoring over the first 11 minutes until Notre Dame registered a goal at the six-minute mark, then with 3:06 remaining, extended their advantage back to six at 11-5. 

Bellarmine's Bobby Schmitt closed out the game's scoring with just 10 seconds left on the clock when he took a pass from Tucker Ciessau and notched his third goal of the season.

"We didn't have the ball the first seven minutes of the game, and that's digging a pretty big hole for ourselves," said Bellarmine Coach Kevin Burns. "When we had opportunities, we were able to capitalize. We just played too much defense." Burns added he thought he got outstanding play from Evan Kalish, Nick King and Chase Rose on the defensive end.

Jack Perkins led the Bellarmine offensive attack with a goal and two assists as the Knights had six different players account for the team's six goals. Notre Dame was paced by Eddy Lubowicki, who converted four of his six shots with Brendan Collins and Ryder Garnsey adding two goals apiece.

Burns said the distribution of goals between his players is a good sign. "We had six goals from six guys with five assists.  That means we're starting to figure some things out and move the ball well," he said.

The Knights are back in action on Saturday, when they host Quinnipiac at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium. The game was originally scheduled for 1 p.m., but has been moved up to a noon start.

BOX SCORE (HTM)