LEXINGTON, Va.—The Bellarmine Knights lacrosse team stormed back from a 4-6 halftime deficit to take a 10-7 decision over the homestanding Virginia Military Institute Keydets 10-7 in  a Southern Conference game on Saturday afternoon.
 
A week after recording a second half shutout, the Bellarmine defense nearly duplicated the feat in holding VMI to just one goal after halftime.  Meanwhile, the Knights struck for three goals in each of the final two periods to win its second game in a row.
 
Bellarmine got a balanced scoring attack with freshman James Whiteford and senior Brian Wall notching two goals apiece to lead the way as eight different players scored.  The Knights got two goals from long poles as Josh Wehn and Eric Rubak each found the back of the net.
 
Three Keydets—Austin Henry, Ryan Perouty and John Daniel—tallied two goals apiece to pace VMI.
 
Bellarmine broke open on top with Whiteford's first goal coming at the 9:24 mark of the first quarter, but the Keydets evened the score on their next possession.  The Knights grabbed the lead at the end of the first quarter as Morgan Macko buried a shot with just five seconds remaining.
 
The host Keydets again struck quickly after a Bellarmine score, knotting the game at two just 48 seconds into the second period. VMI then tacked on another score exactly 60 seconds later to take its first lead of the game.
 
After a long dry spell offensively, the teams closed the second period with a flurry of goals.  First, VMI extended the lead to 4-2 at the five-minute mark before Whiteford struck again for the Knights. This time Bellarmine prevented a quick answer by VMI as Wehn scooped up the ground ball on the ensuing faceoff and converted a shot as the Knights recorded two goals in 10 seconds.
 
However, the Keydets again had an answer as VMI scored twice in a 17-second span to take a 6-4 lead at halftime.
 
The pace of play slowed considerably in the third period as the teams combined for just nine shots in the first 11 minutes of play in the third quarter. Fortunately for the Knights, shot number nine came from the stick of Wall, and it found the back of the net for season goal number 23 as the Knights closed to within one at 6-5.
 
Less than two minutes later, the Knights got out on a break and Stephen Votto converted a feed from Rubak to tie the score 6-6.   Ian Miller made it three in a row for the Knights and gave BU the lead with his sixth goal of the season with just over a minute remaining in the third.  The Knights went on to shut out the Keydets in the quarter to take a 7-6 advantage heading into the final period.
 
Bellarmine's hopes of another second half shutout were quickly dashed in the fourth quarter as VMI tied the game 7-7 just 58 seconds into the fourth, but the Knights' defense stiffened and their offense closed with efficiency to pull out the win.  Bellarmine's "D" allowed just three shots in the final 14:02 while the offense converting three of its final seven shots to win the game going away.
 
One area of the game that helped turn the tide for the Knights was at the faceoff X. After winning just three of 12 in the opening 20 minutes, Bellarmine claimed five of nine after halftime. Freshman Michael Autry finished the game going 8-for-16 against VMI's AJ Krstulovic, who entered today's game second in the SoCon with a .621 win percentage.
 
Bellarmine goalie John Hulsman recorded his third victory between the pipes, stopping seven of VMI's 14 shots on goal.
 
The Knights improve to 4-8 on the season and 2-4 in SoCon play. The Keydets fall to 2-9, 0-6 SoCon.
 
Bellarmine closes its regular season with a home contest on Saturday at 1 p.m. against Furman.
 
BOX SCORE (HTM)