LOUISVILLE, Ky.—After Bellarmine's first victory of the year narrowly eluded the Knights in a triple overtime loss to Marquette last week, the BU lacrosse team will be back at it on Saturday, hosting Canisius College at noon at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium.
 
Saturday's contest will result in the season's first victory for one of the combatants as Bellarmine enters 0-3, and the Golden Griffins are 0-1 after dropping their season opener to Hobart by the count of 22-13.
 
Bellarmine's offense spread the wealth in Saturday's game against Marquette with eight different players notching the Knights' eight goals.  In fact, the top point producers for Bellarmine didn't even score a goal as Kyle Playsted handed out four assists and Benny O'Rourk had two helpers to lead the team in points.
 
There is a four-way for the Bellarmine team lead in season points through the Knights first three games with Playsted, Brayden Brown and Christian Della Rocco all with six on the season.
 
Defensively, Bellarmine got another solid effort from Jon Robbins, who broke the school record for caused turnovers in a game with six. On Tuesday, he collected his second ASUN Defensive Player of the Week honor of the year. Robbins enters Saturday's game as the national leader in caused turnovers per game with an average of 5.0.
 
Junior JC Higginbotham has patrolled the crease for all but 10 minutes of game action this season.  The goalie from Plano, Texas has collected 35 saves to bring his career total to 222, fifth-most in program history.
 
For the Golden Griffins, who are members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, three different players notched hat tricks in the season opener.  Redshirt freshman Colin Kelly picked up MAAC Player of the Week honors after recording three goals and an assist against Hobart. Fellow attackman Jacob Buck actually had the same stat line as Kelly with three goals and an assist while Keegan Kozack also netted three goals for the Griffins.
 
On defense, Ryan Sharkey is the top returner for Canisius after leading the squad with 15 CTs last season. In goal, the Golden Griffins will likely look to graduate student Matt Vavonese, who notched 16 saves against Hobart and led the team with 73 in 2021. 
 
Saturday's game will mark the first time Bellarmine and Canisius have met on the lacrosse field.
 
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