CLEVELAND, Ohio—The host Cleveland State Vikings hung on for a 9-8 victory over Bellarmine on Friday night at Krenzler Field as the Knights' shot with less than two seconds sailed just wide of the goal. 
 
The Bellarmine offense found itself with a lot fewer opportunities as the Vikings dominated at the faceoff "X," winning 18 of 20, which helped CSU outshoot the Knights 48-33.
 
The Knights drew first blood as Morgan Macko converted a nice feed from Griffin Bowie on one of Bellarmine's first offensive possessions.  However, the 1-0 advantage would be the Knights' only lead of the game.
 
The Vikings, which played a deliberate style on the offensive end, owned a huge advantage in time of possession, but the Knights defense held its own, causing six shot clock violations and getting a career- high 16 saves from Ian Reilly.
 
In the end, the difference in the game turned out to be the hot start in the third quarter by the Vikings as they scored three quick goals to pull ahead 7-3.
 
The Knights stayed patient and worked their way back into contention by reeling off three straight to cut the margin to one.  Cleveland State scored with just 16 seconds remaining in the 3rd quarter to take an 8-6 lead into the final period.
 
Bellarmine saw its deficit grow to three with just 9:16 remaining, but again the Knights remained patient and drew within 9-8 at the 2:30 mark after successfully killing a 3-minute penalty.
 
Although Cleveland State won the ensuing faceoff, the Knights got the ball back and Brayden Brown had a good look with 39 seconds remaining, but CSU goalie Gareth Haigh came up with the save. 
 
The Vikings cleared the ball and got a shot off that cleared the end line, but they retained possession and called timeout with just 23 seconds remaining.  On the restart, a double team by Bellarmine's Eric Rubak and Jon Robbins got the turnover and Blake Roshkowski raced downfield and fired off a shot that just missed to the left as the Vikings held on for the win.
 
Macko and Landon Trout each recorded hat tricks to lead the game's scoring with Bowie finishing with two assists. Robbins and Luke Legnard also recorded goals for the Knights.
 
Nick Wendel and Chase Baker tallied two goals apiece to lead Cleveland State, which improved to 2-4 on the season.
 
Bellarmine (2-6) begins conference play next week when the Knights take on the Richmond Spiders at 2:30 p.m. on March 14 in Richmond.
 
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