LOUISVILLE, Ky.—In each of the last two seasons, the Bellarmine Knights played in the first NCAA Division I lacrosse game of the season.  While they may not be among the first two D1 combatants to face off this year, they will be playing on Feb. 4, the first day of allowable competition, and they will be doing so against the top-ranked team on their schedule—the No. 7, Duke Blue Devils.
 
The game is scheduled for a noon start at Koskinen Stadium on the Duke campus in Durham, North Carolina.
 
The Blue Devils are led by USILA Preseason First Team All-American Brennan O'Neill. Last season the 6-2, 220-pound attackman led the team with 53 goals and 21 assists for 74 points and ranked fourth in the ACC and 12th nationally in goals (3.12/gm).  He also was fourth in the ACC and 23rd nationally in points (4.35).
 
Picked to finish third in the ACC by the coaches, Duke has a full arsenal of quality players with four earning preseason All-ACC accolades. In addition to O'Neill, Kenny Brower, Tyler Carpenter and Andrey McAdorey earned the preseason recognition from the ACC. Brower is a close defender while Carpenter was voted as the best longstick midfielder in the ACC. McAdorey earned the nod as a midfielder and for the second consecutive season O'Neill is considered a top attackman.
 
Bellarmine counters with two players who earned spots on the ASUN's 12-member preseason All-Conference Team.  Senior Benny O'Rourk was recognized in the midfield, and sophomore Brady Long made the list as a defenseman.  O'Rourk tallied 17 goals and 12 assists last year while Long racked up 28 caused turnovers and gobbled up 34 ground balls.
 
The Knights' top returning scorer is junior Kyle Playsted, who accumulated 53 points on 25 goals and 28 assists last season.  The 28 assists set a new program record, and the junior from Calgary, Alberta, Canada enters the 2023 season ranked No. 8 on BU's all-time scoring list with 82 points (41 goals, 41 assists).  He also is just four assists shy of tying the all-time Bellarmine mark of 45 held by Karsen Leung and Ian Miller.
 
Senior goalie JC Higginbotham also enters the season chasing down program records. He currently ranks second on the all-time saves list with 343.  It's unlikely he'll catch all-time leader Dillon Ward's mark of 576, but Higginbotham should move up on the all-time wins list this season.  He's currently third, tied with another "JC," JC Hutchins.
 
Duke and Bellarmine have met twice previously with the Blue Devils winning both times.  The first of those meetings came on Feb. 28, 2006 when Duke was ranked No. 1 and the Knights were playing their first game as a full-fledged D1 team. (Bellarmine compiled a 13-2 record in its inaugural season of 2005, which was considered a provisional year in which the Knights played mostly non-Division 1 opponents.)
 
Saturday's Bellarmine-Duke game is being broadcast on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX), which is available through the ESPN app with a subscription to a cable provider or accepted streaming service.

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