LEXINGTON, Va.—Bellarmine broke open a close game with a 10-0 run beginning about midway through the third quarter and rolled to a 17-8 victory over Virginia Military Institute on Saturday afternoon. 
 
The home-standing Keydets owned a 6-5 halftime lead and notched the first goal of the third quarter to increase their lead to two but the Knights' offense revved up in a big way after Kyle Playsted scored at the 7:14 mark to trim the lead to one. From there, Bellarmine scored at the rate of approximately a goal a minute and closed the third period on a 7-0 run. 
 
The Knights (2-8) then netted the first three scores of the fourth quarter for a 15-7 lead and cruised the final 10 minutes while scoring the game's final two goals for the nine-point win.
 
Offensively, the Knights saw one of the program's longest-standing records broken as Playsted registered a nine-point (4G, 5A) game to break the standard of eight set by Garrett Kikot in 2006.  Playsted's five assists also tied the school record set by Ian Miller in 2019.  Meanwhile, Brayden Brown returned from injury in a triumphant manner, depositing six goals on eight shots. Brown's six goals tied three other players for the most in program history. Christian Della Rocco added a hat trick while doling out an  assist for a four-point game.
 
In addition to the strong offensive play, the Knights had solid performances by several freshmen.  At the dot, Aidan Fearn and Cole Messick combined to win 18 of 25 faceoffs, and on defense, Brady Long recorded five caused turnovers and scooped up a pair of ground balls.
 
The Keydets (2-6) were paced by Scout Ripley with four goals and two assists.
 
Bellarmine's JC Higginbotham picked up the goalie win after recording eight saves.  Jack Liselli matched Higginbotham with eight saves, but the VMI goalie was saddled with the loss after surrendering 16 of BU's 17 goals.
 
With today's win, Bellarmine improves to 13-0 all-time against the Keydets.
 
Next up for the Knights is a Saturday matchup with the No. 9 North Carolina Tar Heels in Chapel Hill at 3 p.m.  The game at UNC marks the final non-conference game for the Knights as Bellarmine closes its regular season with five straight ASUN contests.
 
For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow us on Twitter (@BUKnights), Instagram (BUKnights), and Facebook (BUKnights).