LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The Bellarmine University lacrosse team begins a crucial three-game stretch on Saturday at noon against High Point as the Knights play their first of three straight Southern Conference road games.
Currently in third place in the league with a 2-1 SoCon record, Bellarmine faces the defending conference champion that is 5-5 (1-2 SoCon) in 2016. The Knights enter 4-6 overall having lost their last two contests, falling 7-9 at Providence on March 26 and dropping a 7-8 decision in overtime to SoCon co-leader Air Force last Saturday.
In High Point, Bellarmine faces the highest-scoring team in the league. The Panthers average 9.9 goals per game and three of the SoCon's leading goal-scorers are from High Point. Dan Lomas, a Panther senior, leads the league averaging 2.5 goals per game.
On the other end of the field, the Panthers have been getting excellent goalie play. In fact, freshman goalie Tim Troutner is the reigning SoCon Defensive Player of the Week after coming up with 14 saves in a win over Mercer.
For Bellarmine, junior
Tucker Ciessau continues to the lead the Knights in scoring with 17 goals and six assists. The 2015 All-SoCon performer currently ranks eighth in the league in points per game an average of 2.30.
On defense, long stick middie
Taylor Stuart is having another outstanding season with 15 caused turnovers and 33 ground balls to date.
Bellarmine and sophomore
Connor Harryman enter the weekend as league leaders for faceoff percentage. The Knights have the team lead at .562 while Harryman is the individual leader at .591.
Saturday's game will mark the fourth time that Bellarmine and High Point have played with the Knights owning a 2-1 series lead. Despite being a relatively short series, it has produced some dramatic games. Last year, HPU's Michael LeClair scored with 40 seconds on the clock to propel the Panthers to a 10-9 victory. Two years ago, the Knights scored in the first few seconds of overtime to win by the same 10-9 score.
An interesting note to Saturday's game is the battle between brothers as Bellarmine junior
Matt Taulane and High Point senior Joseph Taulane will square off for the last time in their college careers.
BELLARMINE (4-6, 2-1 SoCon) vs. HIGH POINT (5-5, 1-2 SoCon)DATE: Saturday, April 9
TIME: Noon
SITE: High Point, NC
VENUE: Vert Stadium
GAME COVERAGE: Live Stats Live Video
