LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The Bellarmine field hockey team has an important week coming up as the Knights fight for a spot in the Mid-American Conference postseason tournament as well as honor a group of seven seniors.  On Friday, the Knights travel to Muncie, Indiana for a MAC contest against Ball State University then return home for senior day on Sunday against the Lindenwood Lions.
 
The Friday matchup appears to have big implications for qualifying for the MAC postseason as Bellarmine and Ball State enter the contest in a four-way tie for third in the league standings with a 2-2 conference record.  Only the top four teams earn berths into the MAC Championship Tournament.  Miami and Appalachian State (the two teams that have beaten Bellarmine) are 4-0 and 3-1 in league play with the Knights and Cardinals even with Ohio and Kent State at 2-2.  Longwood and Central Michigan round out the eight-team league at 1-3 and 0-4 respectively.
 
Friday's game will boast some of the top offensive players in the league with Ball State's Fleur Knopert currently leading the MAC in goals (11) and in shots (41).  Bellarmine counters with Paige Hoyer, who ranks third in goals with eight, and Anna Crump, who is fourth in shots with 32.  The Knights boast four different players in the MAC's top 10 in shots on goal with Peyton Hobson and Teresa Schmidt tied for seventh with 14 and Crump and Hoyer tied for ninth with 13.
 
Bellarmine's Alexa Rastigue leads the MAC with four defensive saves, and both of the goalkeepers in Friday's game have solid numbers.  Ball State's Hannah Johnston leads the league with 86 saves and a 77.5 save percentage while Bellarmine's Kailey Workman ranks second with 68 saves and is third in save percentage at 72.3.
 
Following Friday's contest, the Knights return to Louisville for a Sunday matchup with Lindenwood University at 3 p.m. in Trager Stadium.  Prior to the game, Bellarmine will honor seven players in Senior Day activities:  Hannah Brown, Crump, Hobson, Abby Hodges, Lauren Marshall, Schmidt, and Sophie Stoll.
 
After the ceremony, the Knights will face a familiar foe from their Division II days, the Lindenwood Lions. Like Bellarmine, the Lions have transitioned to the NCAA Division I level and while most Lindenwood sports compete in the Ohio Valley Conference, the field hockey team is an independent.
 
The Lions enter Sunday's game with a 3-7 record with two of their wins coming over Queens and Central Michigan, teams the Knights also have defeated this season.
 
Mia Simpson and Alice van Hemelen have three goals apiece to lead the Lions.  On defense, the goalkeeping duties are shared by Kyla Cooke and Leah Brozovich.  For Bellarmine sports fans, a goalkeeper named Brozovich should sound familiar.  Leah's older brother, Matthew, is an All-Atlantic Sun Conference netminder for the Knights soccer team, and he's having another stellar season, currently the reigning ASUN Goalkeeper of the Week.
 
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