SALT LAKE CITY—The Bellarmine Knights and Utah Utes both made their 2020 lacrosse debuts on Saturday afternoon at the nearly 50,000-seat Rice-Eccles Stadium with Utah posting a 16-10 victory.
 
The Utes scored just 47 seconds into the game, and the Knights played from behind the entire game as Bellarmine never got a push to challenge for the lead.
 
"I was happy with how our kids competed," said Bellarmine Coach Andrew Whitley, who made his head coaching debut today. "We had a few chances to work our way back into the game in the second half-- particularly at 10-7--and just couldn't execute well enough to close the gap further."
 
Landon Trout scored the first Bellarmine goal of the season off a feed from Brayden Brown at the 7:23 mark of the first quarter to get the Knights within one.  After the Utes pushed the margin back to two with a goal at the 4:08 mark, Bellarmine again got within one on a Morgan Macko from Griffin Bowie connection at the 1:35 mark of the first period.
 
However, that would be as close the Knights would get as Utah reeled off three straight goals and eventually built a 10-4 by halftime.
 
Coming back after the break, the Knights strung together their own 3-0 run to start the third quarter and close the gap to 10-7.  The Utes answered that run with three straight goals to push their cushion back to six at 13-7 with 6:25 remaining in the period, meaning the teams played even over the game's final 18:35.
 
Utah's Jimmy Perkins was the leading goal-scorer in the game with four while the Utes' Colin Burke totaled six points with a pair of goals and four assists. 
 
Bellarmine freshman Benny O'Rourk turned a solid game, notching two goals on just four shots in his collegiate debut. Trout added four points for the Knights with two goals and two assists while Brown and Griffin Bowie each contributed a goal and an assist.
 
The Utes held advantages in nearly all team statistics, outshooting the Knights 48-35 and picking up 14 more ground balls (35-21).  At the "X," Utah went 17-12 in faceoffs and won the turnover battle 17-11.
 
Whitley said the Knights can take away some positives from today's game. "That's just part of the learning process with an inexperienced team, he said.  "We have to put ourselves in a 50,000-seat stadium against a quality opponent and make plays under pressure. We will learn from this and be better for it."
 
The Knights will have another chance to prove themselves next week. "We have another quality opponent in Marquette next Saturday," Whitley said, "and I expect to more comfortable executing in adverse situations as a result of today's experience."
 
For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow us on Twitter (@BUKnights), Instagram (BUKnights) and Facebook (BUKnights).  
 
HTM BOX SCORE