BUFFALO, N.Y.—Stellar performances at both ends of the field by the Bellarmine lacrosse team led to a convincing 14-4 road over victory over Canisius on Saturday afternoon.
 
On the offensive end, the Knights got another five-point (4 goals, 1 assist) performance from midfielder Benny O'Rourk, and junior Kyle Playsted became the program's all-time leader in assists by handing out three on the day.  Playsted's third assist gave him 46 in his career to better the school record of 45 that was held by Karsen Leung and Ian Miller.

"I'm really happy for Kyle to break the record," said Bellarmine Coach Andrew Whitley. "He and Denton Macdonald have great chemistry in transition together, so it was apropos that the record came on a transition cut to Denton."
 
The Bellarmine defense, meanwhile, was nearly impenetrable—especially in the first half as the Knights pitched a shutout over the first 29 minutes.  A Canisius goal with 33 seconds remaining in the second quarter was the lone goal by the Golden Griffins in the first half.
 
With the victorious goalie decision, senior JC Higginbotham moved into second on BU's all-time wins list behind former All-American Dillon Ward.  Higginbotham also ranks second on Bellarmine's career saves list.
 
"I'm really happy with the consistency we played with from start to finish," said Whitely.  "To go 52 minutes with one goal against is as complete a defensive performance as we've had. Jacob Berggren had seven ground balls and three caused turnovers to lead a total team effort." 

Whitley was equally pleased with the offensive effort.  "Benny continues to lead the offense and is becoming a dominant dodger in our offense," he said "It has allowed the rest of our offense to share the ball so that everyone is a threat. We had eight different goal scorers and that's a great sign moving forward. The more we share the ball, the more prolific our offense is."

Bellarmine (2-1) got the scoring started relatively early in the game when Justin Wescoat converted a feed from Tayo Oladunmoye just 2:05 into the contest.  The Knights would go on to post the game's first six scores of the game until Canisius broke through with a score just before halftime.
 
In the second half, the Knights just kept rolling, extending their 6-1 halftime advantage to 12-1 before the Griffs scored goal number two about midway through the fourth quarter.  The Knights' defense was close to tying the program record for fewest goals allowed (3), but a Canisius goal with 1:14 remaining made the Griffs' final tally four.
 
Final statistics show pretty significant advantages for the Knights offensively, outshooting Canisius 39-27, including a 24-13 edge in shots on goal.  Defensively, the Golden Griffins made 10 saves while Higginbotham came up with nine for the Knights.  Bellarmine made just 12 turnovers while Canisius committed 17.

Whitley added that Bellarmine's performance in other key areas also was encouraging. "We cleared at a 100 percent rate,  which allowed us to end defensive possessions to rest our legs and allowed our offense to string goals together," he said. "I was also pleased with our faceoff unit as we got contributions from all three faceoff guys led by Cole Messick's nine-for-15 performance. That unit embodies the unselfishness of our team as they all are ready at any moment and give us a tremendous effort when called upon."

In addition to O'Rourk and Playsted having good scoring games, Oladunmoye also chalked up three points with a pair of goals and an assist.  Wilson Murphree and Christian Della Rocco also notched two goals apiece for the Knights.

For Canisius (0-2), Colin Kelly was the offensive leader as he contributed to all four goals, scoring three and assisting on the fourth.
 
Bellarmine is back in the state of New York for its next game, traveling to Poughkeepsie for a Feb. 26 matchup at Marist College.