LOUISVILLE, Ky.—It didn't take long for Bellarmine freshman Merit Harris to make her presence felt as a Knight, scoring less than 90 seconds into her first collegiate game to help lead the Knights field hockey team to a season-opening 3-0 win over Seton Hill today at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium.

After Seton Hill took the opening possession, the Bellarmine defense made a stop and the Knights transitioned quickly to offense. All-American Kelsey O'Bryan quickly drew the attention of the Griffon defense as she dribbled through the right side of the circle, and found Harris on the left side for the quick opening goal.

Bellarmine extended the lead to 2-0 with less than five minutes remaining in the first half. After O'Bryan outmaneuvered Seton Hill goalie Jane Eberhardt, the Griffons's Emily Hutsko made a nice defensive save. But, it was to no avail, as Bellarmine's Anna O'Toole was in position to get the rebound and the put-back goal.

The game's final score came in the second half on another transition possession. The Knights quickly pushed the ball up on the attack with Kathryn Schneidtmiller and Harris beating the Seton Hill defense into the circle. Schneidtmiller took long pass from O'Bryan and fed Harris, who again was in position on the left side of the cage, and the freshman easily converted the goal.

The Knights were able to stay in attack mode the majority of the game, outshooting the Griffons 18-2 on the day and holding a 9-2 advantage on penalty corners.

"I was obviously very happy to the get the win today," said Bellarmine Coach Mark Blankenbaker. "The first game is always tough. I was very pleased with our defense limiting Seton Hill to one shot on goal, and up front we had some very nice runs, good crisp passing and clean receptions. Our midfield played solid defense and kept the ball in our attack end." 

Harris's early success didn't surprise Blankenbaker and his staff. "Merit is hard working and has a high field hockey IQ," he said. "She puts herself in the right position in the circle, and she has a scorer's mentality."

Blankenbaker added Harris was the beneficiary of solid play from her teammates. "When you have Kelsey drawing the keeper and making passes across the cage like she did, we should score goals. It's a team game, and today Merit did her part and Kelsey did hers.

The Knights are back in action tomorrow facing a solid Mercyhurst team that lost a close 4-3 decision to Lindenwood in Frazier Stadium after the BU-Seton Hill game.

Blankenbaker said he hopes to improvement in several areas against Mercyhurst. "We did not execute our penalty corners today, and spacing at times was not the best."   

Tomorrow's game is set for an 11 a.m. start.

BOX SCORE (HTM)