GREENVILLE, S.C. – Last week after the Knights lacrosse team sweated out a ferocious comeback from VMI to hang on for a 13-12 win, Bellarmine Coach Jim Mitchell joked that the second half aged him a decade.
 
If that's true, then today's performance by his Knights may have given him back those years.
 
Facing a 10-4 deficit after Furman scored the first goal of the third quarter, the Knights roared back to outscore the host Paladins 11-2 over the final 28 minutes and claim a 15-12 victory in Southern Conference action today at Paladins Stadium.
 
"I am proud of the way the entire team responded to adversity today," Mitchell said. "We started slow, but dug deep and earned a critical conference win. Our seniors set the tone for the comeback."
 
Furman (3-9, 1-4 SoCon) jumped out to a quick lead, scoring the game's first four goals before the Knights responded with three straight. The Paladins then reeled off four more unanswered goals to go up 8-3.  The teams then traded goals, and Furman took a 9-4 halftime lead. 
 
The halftime break, however, extended well beyond the traditional 10 minutes as lightning forced a stoppage of approximately and hour and a half.  
 
After a pair of goals by each team made the score 11-6 at the 5:29 mark of the third period, Bellarmine unleashed a 6-0 run over the next 11 minutes to take its first lead of the game on an Ian Miller goal at the 9:24 mark of the fourth quarter.
 
Furman's Carson Sorrells then notched his third goal of the game to knot the score at 12 with 8:23 remaining, but the Bellarmine defense pitched a shutout from there on while the offense tacked on three more goals to give the Knights the 15-12 win.
 
Senior Stephen Votto paced the Knights with three goals and three assists today while Luke Legnard and Riley Seay also netted hat tricks.  Morgan Macko had a four-point day with a pair of goals and a pair of assists.
 
Jarrett Birch tallied five goals to lead the Furman attack.
 
After getting outshot 23-19 in the first half, Bellarmine came back to outshoot Furman 46-38 overall.  The Knights were "plus-one" in both ground balls (35-34) and faceoffs (16-15) while Bellarmine goalie Jordan Dondoyano came up with 12 saves compared to 10 for his counterpart, Alec Van de Bovenkamp.
 
Bellarmine closes out its home season this Saturday with a noon game against High Point. Prior to faceoff, the Knights will hold ceremonies to honor eight seniors: Justin Hyde, Luke Hoffman, Max Cartor, Cole Wolfson, Ian Miller, Stephen Votto, Turner Lockyear, and Josh Wehn.  
 
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