NEW HAVEN, Conn.—The Bellarmine Knights lacrosse team held on for a dramatic 14-13 victory over Quinnipiac in an NCAA Division I game at Reese Stadium on the campus of Yale University today as
 
The Knights (1-2) led for majority of the game, but the persistent Bobcats (0-2) kept clawing their way back, and Bellarmine couldn't celebrate the victory until the final horn blew as Quinnipiac failed to take advantage of an extra man opportunity in the game's last 15 seconds.
 
"It was a gritty game, but our guys played tough and battled through it," said Bellarmine Coach Kevin Burns.
 
"It was our best game of the season, based on the outcome alone, but we did some things for the first time this year that really was good to see," Burns said. "We really played as team, and our seniors stepped up for us in a big way. Tucker Ciessau had four assists and Tanner Barco had three goals, which is probably a career high for him."
 
Burns also lauded the play of midfielders Nick King and Quinnipiac transfer Luke Hoffman, noting that the team voted to give Hoffman a game ball.
 
Andrew Schoeneck, Brian Wall and Barco all registered hat tricks for the Knights while Tucker Ciessau added a goal and four assists.
 
Sophomore goalie Max Cartor came on in relief of Chase Rose in the fourth quarter, picking up six saves in the period to earn the win. Rose also was solid between the pipes, picking up eight saves in his 45 minutes of action.
 
Burns said the game statistics illustrate how well the team played as unit. "We won ground balls (34-33), and we were perfect on clears (11-11), which means are guys were playing together."
 
Bellarmine jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a goal by Ian Miller less than four minutes into the game, but the Bobcats answered less than a minute later as Ryan Lawson picked up his first score of the season.
 
Barco retaliated with his first goal of the game for the Knights, but the Bobcats scored two in a row and claimed their first lead at 3-2. Ciessau scored on an assist from Jack Perkins to tie the game, but Quinnipiac ended the 1st quarter's scoring to take a 4-3 lead.
 
The Knights reclaimed the lead as Perkins and Schoeneck netted shots to open the second period, but Quinnipiac's Brian Feldman rang up his third goal of the game to tie it 5-5. After Bellarmine pulled ahead 7-5 on a pair of goals by Wall, the Bobcats scored twice in 25 seconds to knot the score with 1:48 remaining in the second period.
 
Bellarmine's Barco ended the scoring in the first half when he converted a pass from Miller to give the Knights an 8-7 lead at halftime.
 
The Bobcats won the opening faceoff of the third period, and scored on their first possession to tie the game 8-8. However, Bellarmine reeled off three straight scores to claim their biggest lead of the game at 11-8 with 9:15 left in the third quarter. 
 
Again, the Bobcats fought their way back, ringing up three more scores to tie it at 11 apiece heading into the final period.
 
Bellarmine drew first blood in the fourth quarter when Perkins scored off a Ciessau feed, but the Quinnipiac answer came just 1:14 later when Feldman found the back of the net for the fifth time of the game.
 
The Knights then upped the margin to 14-12 as Wall and Miller each tallied goals.  The host Bobcats trimmed the lead to 14-13 at the 6:21 mark as Feldman scored on a man-up opportunity.
 
Coming down the stretch, the defenses came up big for both sides with goalie saves and forced turnovers.
 
The Bobcats called timeout with about a minute and a half remaining, and on the restart, they worked the ball to Anthony Carchietta for a clear shot but Cartor got the save as the ball caromed high in the air and sailed over the end line, with possession to Bellarmine.
 
Then, turnovers ensued.
 
After a successful clear attempt, the Knights threw the ball away only to have Quinnipiac give it right back on an offisides call with 43 seconds remaining. The Knights managed to run 25 seconds off the clock, but, again, turned it over, and to make matters worse, Bellarmine was flagged for a penalty, giving Quinnipiac an extra man opportunity for the final 15 seconds. However, the Knights' defense stiffened and didn't allow a shot as Bellarmine hung on for its first win of the year.
 
Final stats show a 53-42 shot advantage for Quinnipiac, which also won 19 of 31 faceoffs. Bellarmine was better in the turnover department, committing just 11 to the Bobcats' 18.
 
The Knights now move on to the Midwest Classic, which is being hosted by Marquette on March 3 and 5. Bellarmine will face Detroit Mercy in their opening game and close with Ohio State.
 
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