LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament quarterfinals and hat tricks are becoming synonymous for the No. 12 Bellarmine University men's soccer team.

On Sunday at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium, junior midfielder Micah Linscott registered Bellarmine's second hat trick in as many years in a conference tourney opener as the second-seeded Knights steamrolled to an 8-2 victory over seventh-seeded Lindenwood.

Bellarmine will meet third-seeded Maryville in the semifinals at 5 p.m. (ET) Friday at the Woehrle Athletic Complex in Jeffersonville, Indiana. The Saints defeated sixth-seeded Illinois Springfield 2-1 in overtime.

Linscott tallied three goals and also had an assist for Bellarmine (14-0-4) against Lindenwood (7-7-4) a year after senior midfielder Gilio Aviles posted three goals in a 4-0 win over Quincy in the quarterfinals. In a history-making season in which the Knights have secured program records for total wins and conference wins, the team set more new benchmarks Sunday with their highest-scoring effort and most lopsided victory ever in the GLVC Tournament. It was the second time in three matches Bellarmine piled up eight goals, matching its output against William Jewell.

Junior midfielder Collin Rose made some history individually, tying the program record for assists in a game with four. Senior forward Tomas Bernedo racked up two goals and two assists, Aviles recorded two goals and junior midfielder Jonathan Huerta notched two assists. Freshman midfielder Haziq Zed chipped in a goal and senior defender Chris Hunt and senior midfielder Mark Lanham added one assist each.

Bellarmine couldn't have started the match any better. Before the contest was even 12 minutes old, the Knights had already built a 3-0 lead. Bellarmine increased the advantage to 4-0 early in the second half and responded with three straight goals after Lindenwood scored its first.

Linscott triggered the avalanche of goals. He headed in a header pass from Bernedo off a Rose corner kick in the fifth minute. Linscott then made it 2-0 in the 12th minute when he headed in an excellent service from Hunt.

Bellarmine scored its third goal 55 seconds later when Aviles headed in a Rose free kick. The Knights took that 3-0 advantage into halftime and hiked it to 4-0 in the 51st minute when Bernedo headed in a Huerta free kick.

Just 16 seconds after Lindenwood scored its first goal, Linscott completed his hat trick, converting off Huerta's second assist for his 10th goal of the year. Less than one minute later, Bernedo finished a combination that included Linscott and Rose for his second goal and 13th of the season.

Aviles scored his second goal and fourth of the season in the 59th minute on basically a half-bicycle kick where his body was diagonal when he made an incredible strike for a 7-1 lead. Rose and Bernedo assisted on the play, marking Rose's record-tying fourth helper.

Speaking of great strikes, Zed had one off a feed from Lanham to cap the scoring. It was his second goal of the season.

Bellarmine finished with a 20-6 advantage in shots, including 12-5 on goal.

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