SALT LAKE CITY, Utah—The host Utah Utes bolted out of the gates with a 5-0 lead in the game's first eight minutes, and the visiting Bellarmine Knights never recovered as Utah got the 15-8 victory in both teams' ASUN Conference debuts on Saturday night.
 
Bellarmine finally got on the board with 3:19 remaining in the first quarter on a Benny O'Rourk goal off a Pat Anderson feed.  The Knights then closed to within 6-3 early in the second period, but that would be as close as they would come. 
 
The Utes responded with a 3-0 run before Denton Macdonald notched his second goal of the game to pull Bellarmine to within 9-4 just before halftime.
 
In the second half, Utah drew first blood, and the Knights could get no closer than five the rest of the way.

"Utah makes a living In transition situations, and we didn't do a great job there today," said Bellarmine Coach Andrew Whitely. "To Utah's credit, they came out with great energy and intensity, and we didn't match it. We seemed slow to read and react to their transition opportunities, and to Utah's credit, they shot the ball extremely well in those situations. Conversely, we played very slow and lethargic offense at times and didn't shoot the ball very well at all, getting only 22 of 41 shots on cage. That has to be better and will certainly be an area of focus this week."
 
Exacerbating the Knights' shooting woes was a strong effort from Utah's freshman goalie Colin Lenskold.  The first-year netminder repelled 63.6 percent of the on-target shots he faced and finished with 14 saves.  On the opposite end of the field, Bellarmine's JC Higginbotham notched 13 saves on the night. 
 
Utah owned a 17-8 advantage at the faceoff dot, and the Utes translated that into more offensive chances and outshot BU 55-41 including a 28-22 edge in shots on goal.

Jordan Hyde, Tyler Bradbury and Ryan Stines all recorded hat tricks for the Utes, while Bellarmine was paced by Macdonald and Kyle Playsted with two goals each.  Playsted added a pair of assists, and Macdonald added a pair of caused turnovers. 
 
Utah improves to 2-4 (1-0 ASUN) while the Knights slip to 5-2 (0-1 ASUN).

"It's a disappointing loss," Whitley said, "because we really felt like this game was going to be a real measure of where we are in the league, and we definitely didn't put our best foot forward. I know our guys are disappointed with the performance, and I expect us to respond appropriately. We had been playing good lacrosse and this result is an opportunity to evaluate ourselves and focus on fine-tuning some details for the upcoming games."
 
Bellarmine returns home for a Saturday, March 25 matchup with ASUN newcomer Queens at noon in Frazier Stadium. 
 
The game will be "Alumni Appreciation Day" as later that night Bellarmine will conduct its Athletics Hall of Fame Induction ceremony where two of the 11 honorees will be from the lacrosse program. Founding coach Jack McGetrick and All-American goalie Dillon Ward both will be enshrined at the event.
 
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