POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y.—A good start but an even better finish propelled the Bellarmine lacrosse team to a 13-10 victory over Marist on Sunday afternoon in Tenney Stadium.
 
The Knights broke out to a quick 2-0 start, but Marist, who is the preseason favorite in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, controlled pretty much the rest of the first half behind a solid goalkeeping effort by sophomore Noble Smith. 
 
The homestanding Red Foxes enjoyed an 8-5 halftime advantage, but the Knights turned up the defense in the second half, shutting out Marist in the third period.  Meanwhile, the offensive netted three goals to make it 8-8 heading into the final quarter.
 
Marist, however, opened the fourth quarter by winning the faceoff and taking the ball straight to the goal to score just 12 seconds into the final period. 
 
Bellarmine's Justin Wescoat answered the Marist goal with a strong move to re-tie the game at nine goals apiece, and the Knights took their first lead since the first quarter when Pat Anderson delivered a great pass to Christian Della Rocco who converted from short range to make it 10-9. 
 
The Bellarmine defense continued its strong second half play, but the Red Foxes pulled even on a breakaway following a scramble for a loose ball. The 1-v-1 goal came with 5:51 remaining in the game, but Knights defense clamped down the rest of the way.
 
On offense, the Knights scored three more clutch goals to put the game away.  Lukas Sinon scored the eventual game winner on an extra man opportunity with two and a half minutes remaining when he took a pass from Kyle Playsted and went low to beat Smith for the game-winner.
 
On the ensuing faceoff, Bellarmine's Cole Messick won the draw then raced downfield, twice splitting two defenders, and finished with a close range goal from just left of the crease.
 
From there, the Bellarmine defense made another stop and the Knights took possession with about 1:40 remaining and killed most of the clock before Benny O'Rourk delivered the exclamation point by scoring just before the shot clock expired to make the final score 13-10.
 
In recording the victory, the Knights move to 3-1 on the season and tie for the longest win streak since the 2014 season.
 
"This was a total team win," said Bellarmine Coach Andrew Whitley.  "I couldn't be happier for our players and coaches.  We weathered some adversity with a couple of unlucky breaks against a very experienced opponent.  Our ability to stay the course on the road against a quality opponent is something that will help us as compete in these types of games in conference play."
 
The fourth year head coach said the gut-check type of win shows progression from a year ago.  "This is a game we would not have won a year ago," he said, "and is a real sign of our potential. Marist will be in the mix for the MAAC Championship, and this game had a playoff type of feel."
 
Playsted turned in a six-point effort with a hat trick to go along with three assists.  With that performance, the junior from Calgary moved into third place on BU's all-time points list with 98 (49 goals, 49 assists). Della Rocco was BU's leading goal-scorer today with four while Sinon and Wescoat scored two apiece.
 
"Kyle and Delly delivered with huge games as Marist made a conscious effort to take Benny away from our offense," Whitley said, adding that he also was happy for Messick as he competed throughout against a very good faceoff specialist from Marist.
 
The Bellarmine defensive unit was the real difference-make in today's game. "Our defense delivered again with a shutout 3rd when we needed it, Whitley said."  
 
Marist, which falls to 0-4 on the season, got five goals from Jamison Embury to lead the Red Foxes' offense while Smith ended with saves.
 
Bellarmine has a short rest before its next game, facing Bucknell in a neutral site game in Wilton, Connecticut on Tuesday.
 
"We have a couple of big games on the horizon," Whitley said, and knowing that we have the ability to respond and come back when things don't go our way is cause for real optimism as we move forward this season. This is a huge toughness game and to come out on the right side of it helps the players continue to build confidence and trust in each other as we compete moving forward."
 
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