JACKSONVILLE, Fla.—The homestanding Jacksonville Dolphins broke open a defensive struggle with seven second half goals to turn back Bellarmine 9-5 in a Southern Conference game today at D.B. Milne Field.
The teams combined for just three scores in the opening 30 minutes of play with the Dolphins holding a 2-1 halftime advantage.
After the intermission, Jacksonville upped its efficiency—especially in transition—and soared to an 8-2 lead before the Knights scored three of the last four goals to make the final margin four.
In the loss, Bellarmine freshman John Hulsman continued to put up impressive numbers in goal. Today, the Baltimore native collected 17 saves with a save percentage of 65.4. Unfortunately for the Knights, Hulsman's counterpart—Hunter Sells—also had a solid outing with nine saves and a 64.3 save percentage.
Jacksonville's Dwayne Mattushik collected a hat trick and teammate Shawn Ewert tallied two goals and an assist to tie for game-high scoring honors.
Landon Trout paced the Bellarmine offensive effort with a pair of scores while Will Roshkowski added a goal and an assist. Other Knight scorers included Cole Wolfson and Stephen Votto with one goal apiece, and Morgan Macko and Ian Miller contributed one assist each.
The Dolphins owned the face-off "X," taking 12 of 16 on the day and outshot the Knights 41-31. Jacksonville also was better in transition, failing on just two of 24 clear attempts compared to a 22-of-27 conversion rate for Bellarmine.
Neither team took advantage of two extra man opportunities, and Jacksonville committed three fewer turnovers than Bellarmine (16-19).
The Dolphins improve to 4-4 on the season and move to 2-0 in SoCon play. The Knights slip to 2-6, 0-2 SoCon.
Bellarmine finally returns for a home game at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium on Saturday, March 31. The Knights will host Air Force at noon after last playing on their home turf on Feb. 17 when they defeated Cleveland State 13-9.
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