Bellarmine Univeristy (3-4, 1-0 SoCon) showed resiliency in Saturday's SoCon opener with a five goal outburst in the fourth quarter to come from behind and earn a defiant, 11-7 victory over Mercer University at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium.
 
"It was a heck of a game. Today I thought our guys showed the most resolve I have seen so far this season," said head coach Kevin Burns. "To battle back, tie it up, go down a couple, and  come back again, it showed real toughness and resolve."
 
Tucker Ciessau led the way for the Knights with confident, well-timed dodges out of the midfield to finish with a hat trick and an assist to lead all scorers. Ciessau scored three consecutive goals in the final ten minutes of the matchup to power Bellarmine past an aggressive Bears defense.
 
"I thought it was a good solid, fourth quarter kind of game. All year we have kind of struggled playing four quarters, and today we put it all together," Ciessau said. "Everyone played very well, and it was great to get the first win in the SoCon this year."
 
"Tucker is a special player" Burns said. "He has made huge strides, and has the freedom within out system to do these kinds of things. He scored from midfield, from attack, and just about every angle. It was awesome."
 
Mercer owned the momentum early, jumping out to a 4-0 advantage after the first quarter.
 
Bellarmine responded well after the first break. Dylan Gatt found Ian Miller on a nice interior cut for the first Knights goal at the 11:43 mark of the second quarter. Miller's goal sparked a momentum shift, as Jack Perkins and Brogan Hill followed suit with scores to bring Bellarmine back within one.
 
Mercer capitalized on a slow break situation, as Ben LaSene found the net at the 8:43 mark to put the Bears up 5-3.
 
The Knights fought back for the 5-5 halftime deadlock, thanks to solid execution from the man-up unit with goals coming from Jack Perkins and Dylan Gatt.
 
The Bears struck quickly to open the second half with a goal from Matt Quinn just 61 seconds into the third quarter. Scott Baird's goal bumped the Mercer lead back to two, with a 7-5 advantage heading into the final frame.
 
The Bellarmine attack came to life in the fourth quarter, as Paul Silverblatt started an offensive onslaught with a cannon of a shot to cut the Mercer lead to 7-6.
 
Then, Ciessau took it to the next level, evading long-pole matchups in the midfield and used a strong individual moves to fire a shot home and tie the score at seven at the 9:50 mark. Three minutes later, he gave Bellarmine their first lead at 8-7 with a strong sweep and shot from 15 yards out.
 
Ciessau completed the second-half hat trick at the 3:38 mark, and then Knights finished strong with insurance goals from Andrew Schoeneck and Nick King to close out the 11-7 victory.
 
"In all of our huddles this afternoon, we just kept focusing on playing the way we are supposed to," Burns said. "The message hasn't changed, as we play the way we know we can, practice hard, and give ourselves an opportunity to win."
 
Bellarmine hits the road again for another SoCon matchup at Jacksonville University on March 19^th. Faceoff is set for noon.

BOX SCORE (HTM)

HIGHLIGHTS: