RICHMOND, Va.—After digging themselves a 6-0 deficit to open the game, the Bellarmine lacrosse team mounted a comeback that fell short as the host Richmond Spiders hung on for a 10-7 victory in a Southern Conference game in Robins Stadium.

With less than four minutes remaining in the first half, the Knights found themselves down on the scoreboard 6-0 and were being dominated statistically as the Spiders held big advantages in time of possession and shots (18-5). 

However, Bellarmine finally got something to go their way when Taylor Stuart's backhanded shot ricocheted off Richmond goalie Henry Buonagurio and into the crosse of Tucker Ciessau, who took a hit from the Richmond defense, but was able to get off a shot from his back for BU's first goal.

The score seemed to ignite the Bellarmine team, which responded with two more goals before the end of the period to go into halftime trailing just 6-3.

The halftime break stopped the Bellarmine momentum, and the home team came out and extended the lead to 7-3 with a goal just 2:40 into the third period.

Bellarmine answered at the 6:34 mark as Ciessau recorded his third goal of the game, but the Spiders responded with two quick goals to extend their lead by to five at 9-4. 

The Knights kept within striking distance with goals by Jack Perkins and Brian Wall.  After the teams traded goals in the fourth period, the Richmond defense—which ranks eighth in nation for goals allowed—held firm as the Spiders took the 10-7 win.

"I think we came out a little flat," said Bellarmine Coach Kevin Burns, "and you can't spot a team like that a lead.  We battled back and never gave up," he said, adding, "n stretches we played like we should, but we didn't play like we should in stretches, too."

Richmond, who lost its leading scorer to injury two games ago, was led in today's game by Dan Ginestro (3 goals) and Alex Hatem (2 goals, 1 assist) while Ciessau—the Knights' leading scorer—again paced BU with three goals and an assist.

Facing the team that ranks No. 2 in the country at causing turnovers, the Knights did a relatively solid job in taking care of the ball, committing 14 turnovers on the day while Richmond coughed it up 13 times.

On the stat sheet, the Spiders owned big advantages in shots (35-25) and ground balls (27-19).  "A lot of those ground balls came in scrum type situations off the faceoff," said Burns, "so we need to get better at winning those 50-50 balls."

Max Cartor, who got the start in goal for the Knights, collected 15 saves on the day while his counterpart, Buonagurio of Richmond, netted 13 stops.

At the "X," Richmond won 13 of 21 faceoffs with the Spiders' Peter Moran going 11 of 16 on the day.

The loss drops Bellarmine to 4-8 overall and 2-3 in SoCon play while Richmond improves to 9-3 and remains perfect in league play with a 5-0 record.

The Knights, who are now tied for fourth in the SoCon standings, travel to Virginia Military Institute next week to take on the Keydets in a game schedule for noon on Saturday.

BOX SCORE (HTM)