SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — The Bellarmine University men's soccer team's defense allowed a goal before it broke a sweat, but that unit regrouped and, as a result, the Knights recovered.

On Friday at Harrison Stadium, No. 14 Bellarmine overcame a Drury score less than three minutes into the match as the Knights responded with two first-half goals and held on for a 2-1 victory over the Panthers in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.

Junior midfielder Collin Rose scored the first goal and assisted on the game-winning goal for Bellarmine (9-0-3, 6-0-3 GLVC), which pumped up its unbeaten streak to 21 dating back to last season. Senior forward Tomas Bernedo tallied the game-winner, and junior defender Eddie Williamson registered an assist against the Panthers (7-5-1, 5-4-1).

Things couldn't have started much worse for Bellarmine. In the third minute, Jaime O'Brien received a through ball from Joshua Lewis-Evans behind the Bellarmine defense and put away his 10th goal of the season for a lightning-fast 1-0 lead.

Bellarmine did a fine job recovering from that quick blow, scoring twice in a roughly five-minute span before the match was even 30 minutes old. Rose poked in a Williamson header inside the goal area to knot the contest at 1-1 in the 25th minute. It was Rose's second goal this season.

He also had a hand in the Knights' go-ahead goal in the 30th minute. Rose fired a free kick toward the back post for Bernedo, who headed in his seventh goal of the year. It was his fourth game-winner.

Neither team scored in the second half. After conceding the early goal, Bellarmine's defense didn't allow Drury another shot in the first half and just six for the match. Both teams had three shots on goal, with the Knights notching 10 total attempts.

Bellarmine plays at 3:30 p.m. (ET) Sunday at Southwest Baptist.

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