LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The Bellarmine Knights lacrosse team may be coming off the most lopsided loss in school history, falling 20-2 at Air Force on Saturday, but optimists will point out there's still a lot of lacrosse to be played this season. In fact, the Knights are still in good position to make a run at making the four-team postseason Southern Conference tournament.
With all league teams having played three games, Bellarmine's 1-2 record places them tied for fourth with Saturday's opponent, High Point, and Mercer. Three teams—Air Force, Furman and Richmond—are 3-0 while Jacksonville and VMI are both 0-3 in the league.
Therefore, Bellarmine has a chance on Saturday to take a step toward the postseason by breaking the tie with High Point while Mercer has the tall task of playing at No. 14 Richmond on Saturday.
The Knights (2-7) and the Panthers (3-7) square off Saturday at 1 p.m. in Owsley B. Frazier Stadium on Bellarmine campus, and on paper, the game looks as if it should be a close game. High Point is putting up 8.8 goals a game while the Knights average 8.44 per game.
Bellarmine's
Tucker Ciessau continues to the lead the Knights in scoring and is fifth in the SoCon averaging three points per game. Ciessau has 17 goals and 10 assists on the year to lead Bellarmine in both statistical categories.
Jack Perkins has added 14 goals to BU's season total and is second on the team while
Andrew Schoeneck,
Brian Wall and
Ian Miller are the three other Knights to have more than 10 points on the season.
The Panthers have a more balanced scoring attack with four different players racking up 10 or more goals on the season. Connor Robinson is HPU's goal leader with 12 while Jason Ashwood and Michael LeClair share team-high honors with 19 points on the season.
Defensively, High Point holds a slight edge statistically speaking. The Panthers surrender just over 11 goals a game while teams have been scoring more than 14 a game against the Knights.
Face offs look to be an interesting part of Saturday's game as both teams have been struggling at the "X" this season. Bellarmine has won 36.2 percent of its face offs while High Point is last in the league at 32.9 percent.
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