COLUMBUS, Ohio—A  last second shot from Detroit's Mark Anstead ricocheted off the post, and the Bellarmine Knights hung  for a 7-6 victory over the Titans in the opening game of the 2016 Midwest Classic being played at Ohio Stadium on the campus of Ohio State University.

"It was definitely a nail-biter," said Bellarmine Coach Kevin Burns.  "We made some unfortunate turnovers down the stretch, but Detroit played well and kept battling back.  Their goalie (Jason Weber) is one of the best in the country."

Overall, Burns was pleased with the Knights' effort. "We did some things the best we've done them all year," he said.  "Hopefully, we can also make this a positive and learn from our mistakes."

Bellarmine's Andrew Schoeneck collected a hat trick to lead the Knights' offensive attack, which featured seven assists on all seven goals.

With the win, Bellarmine improves to 2-3 on the season while the Titans fall to 0-4.

Detroit opened the game's scoring just 1:04 into the contest when Alec Gilhooly scored on the first shot of the game. However, the Knights rebounded with three straight goals to take a 3-1 lead.

After the Titans got one back, Nick King scored his first goal of the season just before time expired in the first quarter to give Bellarmine a 4-2 cushion.

The second period played to a draw as both teams registered two goals, and Bellarmine went into halftime with a 6-4 lead.

The Knights scored quickly to open the second half as Schoeneck struck for his third goal of the game less than a minute into the third period.  However, the Titans held Bellarmine scoreless over the game's final 29 minutes.

The Bellarmine defense answered by shutting out Detroit until the 13:16 mark of the fourth quarter, when the Titans closed the gap to two goals at 7-5.

Detroit struck again with 47 seconds remaining in the game, and the Knights were penalized for slashing  so they had to play the rest of the way a man down. 

Bellarmine's Connor Harryman won the ensuing faceoff, and the Knights were able to kill about half of the remaining time. A turnover sent the ball back to Detroit, who called timeout with 12 seconds on the clock. Coming out of the timeout, Anstead fired his shot that hit the post and the Titans were unable to get off another shot.

Burns said several players stepped up in the absence of Bobby Schmitt and Tanner Barco, who were lost for the season due to injuries suffered against Quinnipiac.  "Stu (Taylor Stuart) played really well," Burns said. "We moved him back to LSM and we put Cole Killion down low, and he played well." Burns added freshman Paul Silverblatt got additional minutes and did a good job.

Statistically, the Knights outshot Detroit 28-27 on the day with 17 of those shots on goal.  However, the Titans held a 30-20 advantage in ground balls.  Harryman took all the faceoffs for the Knights going 9-of-15 on the day.

In goal, Chase Rose picks up the win after coming up with nine saves while Weber collected 10 saves in a losing effort.

The Knights return to action on Sunday, taking on the host Ohio State Buckeyes in day two of the Midwest Classic.

BOX SCORE (HTM)