LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Bellarmine Knights return home on Saturday after two straight weeks on the road as they welcome the Cleveland State Vikings to Owsley B. Frazier Stadium for the second time this season. It'll be the Knights' final non-conference game of the season.
The Knights and Vikings faced each other back in March 13th in a contest that Cleveland State won 8-1. Cleveland State holds a 3-1 series lead over the Knights. Bellarmine's lone win in the season came in the two program's first meeting in 2018.
Bellarmine (3-9, 1-3 SoCon) comes into this contest after beating VMI on the road 11-9 last week.
Kyle Playsted (12G/12A) and Landon Trout (14G/8A) have been the Knights' leaders on the offensive end, tallying 24 and 22 points through 12 contests. Benny O'Rourk has also put up 17 points (13G/4A) while Luke Legnard has notched 13 points.
The Knights' defense has been led by the duo of Jon Robbins and Eric Rubak. Robbins leads the team in caused turnovers with 29 and has scooped up 31 ground balls while Rubak leads the team in ground balls with 50 and has caused 26 turnovers.
In goal, JC Higginbotham has been the primary option for the Knights, starting in 10 of the nine games he has seen action in. He has recorded 113 saves with a .502 save percentage.
Cleveland State (2-5) is comes into Saturday after falling to Robert Morris 15-7 last week.
Brendan Sigurdson (7G/5A) and Tristian Hanna (5G/7A) lead the Vikings' offense with 12 points apiece. Defensively, LSM Zach Whitenack has been a leader for the Vikings with 17 caused turnovers and 10 ground balls.
Kevin Sobey has been their starter in cage and has racked up 96 saves with a 57% save percentage this season. He made a season-high 17 saves last time out against the Knights.
Evan Moskwa has served as the Vikings' primary option at the faceoff dot this season, going 63-for-122 (52%) at the dot.
Saturday's contest has been designated Bellarmine Lacrosse Career Appreciation Day to honor the players who are finishing up their playing careers. Prior to the game, Bellarmine will honor Brendan Fennell, Ian Reilly, Eric Rubak, Trent Tomas, Dylan Tulett, and Bryce Vaxman as well as managers Patrick Lewis and Mary Stockton.
