ST. CHARLES, Mo. — A pair of first half goals was enough for the Bellarmine field hockey team as the Knights held off Mercy 2-1 today in an Eastern College Athletic Conference game at Lindenwood University's Hunter Stadium.

Freshman April Paulson scored her third goal of the season off an Elle Lichte assist nearly 25 minutes into the contest for the game's first score. Then, it was Lichte's turn to score just before the end of the first period as she took a pass from Carly Anson to score off a penalty corner.

The Mavericks narrowed the gap to just one goal about seven and a half minutes into the second half, but Bellarmine held firm to post its first win since besting IUP in their season opener, which also was played in Hunter Stadium.

"It was a good win today," said Bellarmine Coach Mark Blankenbaker. "We played more as a team, and as a result, we played more of an attacking style.  Our midfield supported more on the attacking end and did a good job recovering back to help our defense."

Blankenbaker singled out several players for turning in great efforts. "Amber Hill, Mary Ringwald and Carly Anson were outstanding today," he said. "They held Mercy out of the circle and kept the pressure off Heather (Gregory)."

The Knights dominated the statistics, outshooting Mercy 15-4 and holding a 13-5 advantage in penalty corners.

Bellarmine, which improves to 2-5 overall and 1-3 in ECAC play, stays in St. Charles, Missouri to take on Queens (NC) tomorrow at noon eastern time.

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