MACON, Ga. – Benny O'Rourk tied a program record and set a new career high with six goals in Bellarmine lacrosse's Wednesday afternoon victory over Mercer. The Knights earned their first Atlantic Sun win of the season by a 17-9 final at Five Star Stadium.
 
O'Rourk's first goal with 5:12 left in the first quarter extended his consecutive games goal-scoring streak to 33. He scored his sixth and final goal, Bellarmine's 15^th of the game, with 7:11 left in the fourth and, in the process, overtook fellow senior attackman Kyle Playsted as the program's all-time goals leader. O'Rourk now has 97 career goals to Playsted's 96. Playsted handed out a pair of assists on Wednesday, one of them to O'Rourk, but did not score.
 
"I can't say enough about Benny," said Bellarmine head coach Andy Whitley. "He's a tireless worker and so reliable in big spots. His six goals all seemed to come at inflection points in the game. His presence is such a critical piece to our offense, but, make no mistake, he's a ferocious competitor and that showed this afternoon."
 
The Knights raced out to an 8-1 lead with 12:09 left in the second quarter before Mercer closed with a 4-2 run heading into halftime.
 
"This was a big growth game for us," said Whitley. "We jumped out early playing our brand of lacrosse and Mercer did a nice job shifting the momentum in the second quarter."
 
Bellarmine settled down and outscored Mercer in each of the final two quarters to secure the win, an effort which Whitley thinks his team can build upon the rest of the season.
 
"I give our kids a ton of credit because we gathered ourselves at halftime got back to playing Bellarmine lacrosse in the second half," he said. "We may have only won the third period 2-1, but we played really good offense and generated quality looks several of which hit the post. The 'process' led the way in the second half and that is a good sign for sustainable success."
 
Sophomore attackman John Alie added to his ASUN-leading goal total by also matching his career high with five scores. He now has 26 goals on the season.
 
"John is continuing to work his way up opposing scouting reports and today's performance is another example of that," Whitley said. "His game is evolving and as his ability to dodge continues to develop our offense, making it more and more challenging to cover."
 
Christian Della Rocco scored a pair of goals for his third multi-goal game in five outings this year. He sits at third on Bellarmine's all-time goals list behind O'Rourk and Playsted with 88.
 
Jaden Wilkins, Justin Wescoat, Wilson Murphree and Michael Blaymires each added a single score for the Knights (5-4, 1-0 ASUN), who improved to 12-3 all-time against the Bears.
 
It was not just the offense who had a big game for the Knights, but also another strong performance by the defense, who held their opponents to 10-or-fewer goals for the seventh time in nine games this season.
 
"Our defense continues to set the tone and produced another workmanlike single-digit performance," said Whitley. "Brady Long and Christopher Reynolds are doing a terrific job leading this unit and level of consistency they play with is just terrific. Coach Nicholas Marks deserves kudos for having those guys prepared day-in and day-out and the kids deserve a ton of credit for responding with high-level performance after high-level performance."
 
JC Higginbotham recorded 13 saves to increase his program-leading career save total to 625. Additionally, his program-leading goalie win total now sits at 24.
 
"JC continues to turn in quality performances and makes high-level saves look routine," said Whitley of his senior goalie. "He just exudes confidence and our team responds to it."
 
Mercer (2-5, 1-1 ASUN) was led by Dillon Bush and Chase Cope, who scored five goals and three goals, respectively.
 
Bellarmine faces a quick turnaround as they head to Charlotte on Saturday for their first-ever visit to Queens (2-4, 1-1 ASUN). The Knights achieved their school record of 24 goals in their win against the Royals at Frazier Stadium last year during Queens' first season transitioning to Division I.
 
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