LOUISVILLE, Ky.—In an exciting ASUN Conference lacrosse game, the Bellarmine Knights fell in its home and regular season finale to the visiting Jacksonville Dolphins by the final score of 13-12 on Saturday afternoon at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium.
 
The visiting Dolphins stormed out of the gates, racing out to a 6-1 lead late in the first quarter. However, the Knights stormed right back, unleashing a 6-0 run to claim the lead at 7-6 with 5:58 remaining in the first half.  The Dolphins notched the final goal of the period, so the teams went to halftime knotted at seven.
 
Jacksonville scored the first two goals of the second half to surge ahead 9-7 and Bellarmine never fought all the way back, but the Knights made it interesting.
 
After the Dolphins had extended their lead to 12-8, Bellarmine made one last charge and trailed 13-11 inside the final minute.  Wilson Murphree's goal with 23 ticks left on the clock got the Knights to within one, and BU's Grant Guthrie won the ensuing faceoff and raced into the offensive end, but his potential game-tying shot sailed wide and the Dolphins hung on for the victory.
 
"That was a battle between two high level teams," said Bellarmine Coach Andrew Whitley.  "I was really happy with our effort today. We played extremely hard and showed a resilience that has become synonymous with our program. Jacksonville made a couple more plays and took advantage of a couple of our mistakes, particularly in the clearing game, and that was probably the difference today."
 
Christian Della Rocco led the Bellarmine attack with three goals in a game that saw nine different Knights score a goal.  Freshman John Alie scored two goals while Tayo Oladunmoye, Murphree, and Pat Anderson all dished out two assists while recording one goal.
 
"We got contributions from a bunch of people who stepped up in big moments," Whitely said.  "Tayo Oladunmoye, Wilson Murphree and John Alie made timely plays to help us get back in the game when Jacksonville made their runs."  Whitley also acknowledged his team's defensive effort. "I give our close defense a lot of credit for responding to a fast Jacksonville start by digging in a battling for the remainder of the game," he said. "Their grit allowed us to fight our way back into the contest and ultimately put ourselves in position to have a chance to win it."
 
The loss drops the Knights to 10-5 overall and 5-4 in the ASUN.  The Dolphins finish the regular season 12-3 and 7-2 in league play.  Jacksonville will be the No. 3 seed at the upcoming ASUN tourney.
 
Bellarmine will be the five seed. The Knights' 5-4 conference mark ties Mercer for fourth place in the final standings, but the Bears will be the higher seed thanks to their winning the head-to-head matchup with BU.  However, the lower seeding doesn't change BU's opponent as the Nos. 4 and 5 seeds will meet in the opening game of the ASUN Tournament at 1 p.m. at Robert Morris's Joe Walton Stadium on Tuesday.  The winner advances to the semifinals where they'll meet top-seeded Utah on Friday.
 
"I'm excited this group gets to compete for the ASUN championship," Whitley said.  "If we play with that 'compete and discipline level,' we'll be a very tough out in the tournament."
 
With today's game being the final home contest of 2023, Bellarmine honored eight members of the lacrosse program finishing up their careers with a pregame ceremony. The honorees include Jack Bozik, Matt Ury, Parker Freiberg, Preston Winner, Jacob Berggren, Bobby Gabriel, Jesse Roth, and manager Caitlin Soward.
 
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