LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Bellarmine Knights dropped an 8-6 decision at home against the Air Force Falcons at home in their second Southern Conference contest of the season on Saturday afternoon.

Bellarmine (2-8, 0-2 SoCon) started strong with Eric Rubak, who saw multiple possessions on offense throughout the game, scoring the first goal of the contest just seconds into the game. Landon Trout and Benny O'Rourk followed with goals of their own to put the Knights up 3-0 with 3:56 in the first period.

"He (Rubak) took six shots today, and I liked that fact that he took all of them," Bellarmine coach Andy Whitley said. "I felt like we needed to do something to generate a little bit of offense and manufacture some goals, and with Eric being a guy that has made some plays this year, we decided to give him a crack at it."

J.T. Simonton won three of the first six faceoffs (50%) in the first quarter, which in part allowed the Knights to sprint out to a 3-0 lead and remain ahead 3-2 entering the second quarter. Brendan Crouse and August Johnson scored the first two goals for Air Force late in the second.

James Whiteford scored the lone goal for the Knights in the second quarter to help push them ahead 4-2 at the half. Bellarmine started the second half of play with two quick goals from Patrick Keegan and Luke Legnard to stretch the Knight's lead to 6-2. However, Legnard's goal early in the third would be Bellarmine's last of the day.

Air Force (2-5, 1-0 SoCon) ended the contest on a six-goal run that began two straight from August Johnson to end the third. The run saw the Falcons tie the game at 6 with 7:43 in the fourth and take the lead just over three minutes later with another Johnson tally.

"We talked all week about execution, and it came down to the fact that we did not execute in the fourth quarter," said Coach Whitley. "I don't think they beat us, I think we beat ourselves."

Whiteford and Legnard each had one goal and one assist for two points while Kyle Playsted dished out two assists. Additionally, Rubak had one goal, two caused turnovers, and scooped up three ground balls.

In cage for the Knights, JC Higginbotham made nine saves with a 52% save percentage.

Johnson netted four goals to lead the Falcons' offense while Braden Host made 16 saves with a 72% save percentage to anchor the Air Force defense.

Bellarmine hits the road next week as they travel to face High Point in their third conference game of the season.