CLEVELAND—The Bellarmine lacrosse team went into the dome covering Krenzer Field at Cleveland State needing a solid effort and a victory over the Vikings to solidify its ASUN Tournament seeding, and the Knights got both in a wire-to-wire, 13-8 win on Sunday afternoon.
 
Bellarmine Coach Andrew Whitley got good play on both ends of the field as well as at the faceoff dot in picking up the crucial road win.  The Knights never trailed nor surrendered the lead after Lukas Sinon registered the first goal 3:13 into the proceedings.
 
Although the host Vikings climbed to within 7-5 in the third quarter, Bellarmine essentially put the game away with a flurry of goals late in the period.  The Knights found the back of the net four times in a span of about two and a half minutes to blow the game open 11-5.
 
From there, the BU defense surrendered just a pair of man-down goals and a meaningless late score from Cleveland State to post the five-point victory.
 
"I give our kids a ton of credit," Whitley said. "They continue to respond to adversity and challenges like a winning program. Every time we hit some adversity, the locker room rallies together, digs in, and responds with discipline and focus. I'm not sure there's not much more I or my staff could ask for from the players. At the end of the day, the players should feel good about the way they continue to handle adversity. It's a tremendous sign of growth within our team."
 
Whitley added, "Our four captains deserve a ton of credit for the way the team played this afternoon. They have responded to challenges all season and their performances today were worthy of the trust their teammates and our coaching staff have placed in them."
 
On the offensive end, Bellarmine's usual cast of characters turned their normal strong performances with Kyle Playsted—the ASUN points leader—pacing the Knights with three goals and three assists. Benny O'Rourk also nabbed a hat trick while dishing out an assist in becoming just the fourth Knight in program history to eclipse 100 career points. "Benny came out like a man possessed," Whitley said, pointing out that O'Rourk scored four points in the first 17 minutes of the game.
 
Christian Della Rocco, meanwhile, set a new Bellarmine record for goals in a season with his two scores bumping him up to 36 on the year, besting the record of 34 that had stood since 2010.  Today's game also provided Harrison Pate with the first goal of his career.  The senior, who normally plays on the defensive end, made good on his only shot of the season when he broke free and beat CSU goalie Cameron Logan in a one on one situation to cap Bellarmine's third quarter scoring rally.

Defensively, nine different Bellarmine players were credited with caused turnovers and goalie JC Higginbotham turned in an excellent effort with 17 saves and a save percentage of .680.  His 17 saves were the second-most by a Knight this season. "JC was tremendous in goal today," Whitley said. "He was the backbone of our defensive effort with his 17 saves."
 
At the faceoff dot, freshman Grant Guthrie also turned in an outstanding effort, winning 15 of 21 draws with six ground balls.  "The faceoff unit led Grant Guthrie played a huge role today in allowing us to control tempo all game long," Whitley said. "All three of our guys continue to improve and they have each played vital roles this season. Their ability to coral possessions allows off to play less defense, stop our opponents runs and play more offense."
 
With the win, Bellarmine moves into solo fourth in the ASUN standings with a 4-3 league record while improving to 9-4 overall.  The Vikings fall to 3-4 in ASUN play while dipping below .500 at 5-6 overall.
 
The Knights play once more on the road before returning to Owsley B. Frazier Stadium.  Bellarmine will close its road schedule on Saturday, April 22 at noon against Detroit-Mercy before hosting No. 14 Jacksonville in the regular season finale on April 29.
 
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