CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Bellarmine (6-4, 2-1 ASUN) delivered their second strong road performance of the week Saturday afternoon, this time earning a 12-5 win over Queens (2-5, 1-2 ASUN).
 
"Today was a really workmanlike day for our guys," said Bellarmine head coach Andy Whitley. "It was not glamorous or flashy, just very process-driven. Any time you can win a road conference game, that is a big deal, particularly when it's our second road conference game in four days."
 
On offense, John Alie added a trio of goals to his Atlantic Sun-leading total, bringing it to 29. It was his team-leading sixth hat trick of the season.
 
Kyle Playsted tallied three points on a pair of goals and an assist. He now has 98 career goals, retaking the lead on the Knights' all-time goals list from Benny O'Rourk (97 goals). O'Rourk did not appear in the game as his scoring streak remains at 33 games.
 
Justin Wescoat scored twice for his first multi-goal game of the season.
 
"The usual suspects turned in contributions as you would expect," said Whitley of Alie, Playsted and Wescoat.
 
Ryan Wyrick scored twice, including once in which his defender had lifted him completely off the ground, for his first career multi-goal game.
 
Christian Della Rocco, Denton Macdonald and Luke Healy each recorded single goals. Della Rocco's score was the 89^th of his career, third on the Knights' all-time list behind Playsted and O'Rourk. Healy added two assists for a career-high three points.
 
"We've been playing high-level of lacrosse of late, but we were without Benny O'Rourk, Tayo Oladunmoye and Pat Anderson so we needed some contributions from other places today," Whitley said. "Luke and Ryan provided us a spark and just allowed us to play consistent offense."
 
The Knights led just 3-2 after the first quarter, hitting on just 21.4 percent of their shots, but hit on 42.9 percent (6-of-14) of their shots and held the Royals scoreless in the second to gain control of the game.
 
"We came out of the gate a little slow shooting the ball and had way too many first quarter turnovers," Whitley said. "To our guys' credit, we settled down in the second and third and stretched the lead playing organized, simple lacrosse. We shot the ball better and only turned the ball over three times."
 
The Knights expanded their lead to nine at 12-3 in the third while the Royals scored the only two goals of the fourth.
 
JC Higginbotham recorded 15 saves out of 20 shots on goal (.750 save percentage) in his school-record 25^th win. His program-record saves total now sits at 640.
 
"JC continues to play at an extremely high level and makes it look effortless at times," Whitley said. "We continue to be very difficult to score on and, any time that's the case, you like your chances to win games. The old coaching adage that 'defense travels' is a staple of this program and was a big part of the reason we won today."
 
Higginbotham and the Bellarmine defense have now held their opponents to 10-or-fewer goals in eight of 10 games this season. Jackson Campisano led Bellarmine with four groundballs.
 
Bellarmine returns to Owsley B. Frazier Stadium for a home battle with Lindenwood next Saturday at 12 p.m. ET. ESPN+ will have the live coverage.
 
"We'll give the guys a couple days off before starting to prep for Lindenwood," Whitley concluded. "It'll be nice to be back in front of the home fans next week. Hopefully we can continue to build off of the success we're having as we move deeper into conference play."
 
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