LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Bellarmine Knights hit the road for the first time in just under a month on Saturday when they travel to take on the High Point Panthers in a Southern Conference battle.
Conference foes, Bellarmine and High Point have faced each other seven times in history. Five of those were conference games. The Panthers hold a 4-3 series lead. The last game between the two in 2019 yielded a 16-15 Panthers win. Bellarmine's last win over High Point came in 2017.
Bellarmine (2-8, 0-2 SoCon) comes into Saturday's contest after falling to Air Force 8-6 last week.
Kyle Playsted (9G/10A) and
Landon Trout (13G/4A) have been the Knights' leaders on the offensive end, tallying 19 and 17 points through 10 contests.
Benny O'Rourk has also put up 13 points (10G/3A) while
Luke Legnard has notched 12 points.
The Knights' defense has been led by
Jon Robbins and
Eric Rubak. Robbins leads the team in caused turnovers with 25 and has scooped up 27 ground balls. Rubak leads the team in ground balls with 44 and has 21 caused turnovers. Robbins is tied for fifth nationally in caused turnovers per game while Rubak ranks 10th.
In goal,
JC Higginbotham has been the primary option for the Knights, starting in seven of the eight games he has seen action in. He has recorded 95 saves with a .514 save percentage.
High Point (2-5, 1-1 SoCon) comes into this contest after falling to Richmond last week. The Panthers have played some very tough competition this season, facing three teams currently ranked in the top five of the USILA poll in North Carolina, Duke, and Virginia.
Asher Nolting leads the Panthers' offense with 40 points (19G/21A) while Kevin Rogers had 26 points off 19 goals and seven assists. Brayden Mayea and Dalton Silver each have 18 and 13 points thus far.
Parker Green has gotten the start in cage each of the past four games for the Panthers, recording 44 saves with a 40% save percentage. He is coming off a 17-save performance last week against Richmond. Colin Hoben has served as High Point's primary option at the faceoff dot and has gone 55-for-100 through six games.
