DURHAM, N.C.—The Bellarmine University lacrosse team opened its 2023 season with a 19-7 loss to the No. 7 Duke Blue Devils on Saturday afternoon at Koskinen Stadium.
 
The host Blue Devils overwhelmed the Knights in the early going and scored the game's first 10 goals before Bellarmine finally found some success on the offensive end to score seven second half goals. 
 
Duke came out firing and simply kept firing, peppering the Bellarmine defense with 57 shots on the day.  Bellarmine goalie JC Higginbotham turned in a valiant effort coming up with a career-high 22 saves, which falls just one short of the school record.  

"I was disappointed in our execution in the clear and pace of play offensively today," said Bellarmine Coach Andrew Whitley.  "We felt like if we could control tempo and keep the possession count comparable we could be in the game in the second half.  Unfortunately, that didn't happen today. Duke is excellent at taking advantage of mistakes and punishing you in frenetic, unscripted situations and they were relentless.  JC Higginbotham was terrific in goal today. He continues to do a terrific job as a leader, and I thought was a steadying force even when things got 'scrambly.'"

The Knights were paced offensively by Kyle Playsted with two goals and two assists.  With four points in the contest, Playsted climbed to No. 7 on BU's all-time scoring list with 86 points.  Christian Della Rocco will go down as the first Knight to notch a goal this season, converting a pass from Benny O'Rourk at the 12:08 mark of the third period.

The Blue Devils held hefty advantages across nearly every statistic. The shot differential was 28 (57-29), including a 41-17 edge in shots on goal.  Duke also controlled the faceoff "X" for most of the game winning 19 of the 29 battles and forced 27 Bellarmine turnovers.

"Twenty-seven turnovers are way too many against a quality, experienced team like the Blue Devils," Whitley said. "I think the self-inflicted variety were particularly frustrating because the margin for error is so small against a team of Duke's quality."
 
Brennan O'Neill, the Duke First Team Preseason All-American, proved why he earned that recognition by piling up seven points on five assists and two goals.  The Blue Devils also got a 5-point performance from Andrew McAdorey with three goals and two assists.
 
In addition to Playsted's 4-point day, the Knights got two goals and an assist from O'Rourk as well as scores from Tayo Oladunmoye, Della Rocco, and Pat Anderson.
 
Bellarmine makes its home debut on Saturday when the Knights host St. Bonaventure at noon in Owsley B. Frazier Stadium.

"We'll get back to work on Monday, and I expect we'll respond appropriately this week as we prepare for St. Bonaventure," Whitley said.
 
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