LOUISVILLE, Ky.—After an exhilarating fourth quarter comeback, the Bellarmine Knights suffered a heartbreaking defeat when Furman's David Williamson scored with just three seconds remaining to lift the Paladins to an 8-7 victory in a Southern Conference lacrosse game at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium on Saturday.
 
The Knights trailed 7-3 heading to the final period, but the hosts dug in with four scores in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 7-7.  The last Bellarmine goal came with just 34 seconds remaining, and when Bellarmine won the ensuing faceoff it appeared the Knights would get the last shot.  However, a potential game-winning shot was misplayed by Bellarmine, and Furman goalie Alec Van de Bovenkamp scooped up the ground ball and quickly got the ball in transition where Williamson fired a close-range shot from just outside the right side of the crease that found the upper left portion of the goal for the victory.
 
Adding to the disappointment for the Knights is the loss came on senior day, and ended the Knights' season with a record of 4-9, 2-5 SoCon.  The Paladins' emotions were 180 degrees from Bellarmine's as the victory propelled them into the SoCon postseason tournament with a record of 4-9, 4-3 SoCon.
 
The final game in Frazier Stadium this year gave the fans plenty to cheer about as the contest featured outstanding goalie play with hard-hitting action as evidenced by the 12 penalties whistled in the game.
 
The Knights broke open on top when Stephen Votto netted a transition goal off a feed from long pole Josh Wehn just 1:03 into the game as six of the game's 15 goals came in the first quarter of play. The Paladins scored two straight to take a brief lead before Votto notched his second score of the game. Furman answered with two more scores to lead 4-2 after the opening quarter.
 
Bellarmine again struck in transition as Knights goalie John Hulsman made a save with the ball ricocheting back into the field of play, where Wehn scooped it up, raced downfield, and deposited a shot in the back of the net.
 
Again, the Paladins scored two straight to take a 6-3 advantage into halftime.
 
After the break, Furman struck quickly in the third quarter to extend its lead to four, but both defenses pitched shutouts the rest of the period to set up the exciting fourth quarter.
 
The Knights' first score in the fourth came from Morgan Macko as he took advantage of a man-up opportunity to get BU within three. The Knights trimmed it to 7-5 just 15 seconds later when Bellarmine came up with a turnover and scored another transition goal as defenseman Eric Rubak tallied his second goal of the season off a pass from Wehn.
 
After a scoreless stretch of more than seven minutes, Brian Wall converted another man-up goal for the Knights with Macko providing the assist.
 
Coming down the stretch, Furman committed an unforced turnover with just a minute and a half to play. Bellarmine then got off a shot that sailed high, but on the restart, the Knights got crisp ball movement and Votto hit Macko for the game-tying shot from close range before Williamson provided the heroics for Furman with his late goal.
 
Bellarmine won many of the statistical battles in the game with the biggest advantage came at the face-off X.  The Knights won 15 of 19 with Michael Autry going 10-for-13, Turner Lockyear going 4-for-5, and J.T. Simonton going 1-for-1.
 
The Knights also showed advantages in shots (38-28) and ground balls (31-23) while committing three fewer turnovers.
 
Van de Bovenkamp had a strong game between the pipes for the Paladins.  The sophomore goalie came up with 15 saves while allowing just seven goals. His counterpart, Hulsman, also had a solid game with 10 stops to his credit.
 
Prior to the game, Bellarmine recognized its 2018 senior class of Eric Liddy, Chase Rose, Will Roshkowski, Chase Rose and Brian Wall.
 
For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow us on Twitter (@BUKnights), Instagram (BUKnights), Facebook (BUKnights) and the BUKnights mobile app available for iPhone and Android.

HTM BOX SCORE