LOUISVILLE, Ky.—As the rest of the city prepares for the upcoming Kentucky Derby, the Bellarmine lacrosse team ran its own race today, running past the University of Detroit Mercy 13-8 in a wire-to-wire ASUN Conference victory at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium.
 
The Knights broke out on top when Kyle Playsted scored on a pass from Benny O'Rourk on a man-up situation at the 10:17 mark.   Although the Titans came back to knot the score at one apiece at the 5:57 mark, Bellarmine never surrendered the lead and answered with a 3-0 run to close out the opening period.
 
Detroit Mercy opened the second quarter with a pair of quick goals to trim the Bellarmine lead to 4-3, but the Knights regrouped defensively to shut out the Titans the remainder of the half.  Meanwhile Playsted found the back of the net again, and the Knights led it 5-3 at the break.
 
Bellarmine (4-10, 2-1 ASUN) came out in the second half at a full gallop. The defense remained stingy while the offense started clicking on all cylinders. The Knights scored six unanswered goals to start the third quarter and took control of the game with an 11-3 lead at the 1:40 mark.  From there, the closest the Titans would come is five goals.
 
Two Knights broke Bellarmine season records today.  Playsted handed out two assists and broke out of tie with Chase Williams for most assists in a season. He now has 27 with two more regular season games to go.
 
Meanwhile, defenseman Jon Robbins caused five turnovers to break his own record for most in a season as he brought his season total to 38.  He also climbed a few spots on the NCAA's all-time list for caused turnovers and is now tied for No. 14 with 106 in his career.
 
Aside from breaking season records, Playsted and Robbins also notched all-around good games. Playsted led all scorers with six points, chalking up four goals to go along with his two assists, and Robbins added a goal and three ground balls to his five caused turnovers in the game.
 
Other Knights with strong performances included goalie JC Higginbotham with 13 saves and a 61.9 save percentage and Benny O'Rourk with two goals and two assists.  Like Robbins, Denton Macdonald contributed on both ends with two CTs, three GBs and an assist.
 
Statistical highlights for the Bellarmine team include a 47-37 shot advantage while going 22-for-22 on clears and 3-of-4 on extra man opportunities.
 
For Detroit Mercy (1-8, 0-3 ASUN), offensive leaders included Brett Erskine (1G, 3A) and Luke Majick (2G, 1A).  As a team, the Titans managed a 13-12 advantage in faceoffs, but trailed the Knights in every other team statistic.
 
Today's win coupled with Cleveland State's loss at Air Force this afternoon assure that the Knights will make the 4-team field of the ASUN Championship. At worst, Bellarmine will finish 2-3 in the league while the best Cleveland State or Detroit Mercy could finish is 2-3, and the Knights hold head-to-head tiebreakers with both teams.  
 
Bellarmine closes its home schedule next week by hosting Utah at noon on Saturday. Prior to the game, the Knights will recognize 12 players wrapping up their playing careers:  Brayden Brown, Cameron Herbert, Patrick Keegan, Kevin Lambe, Luke Legnard, Brody Lowry, Collin Murray, Ethan Pattinson, Jon Robbins, Blake Roshkowski, J.T. Simonton, and Dylan Tulett.  
 
For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow us on Twitter (@BUKnights), Instagram (BUKnights) and Facebook (BUKnights).