JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville's powerful attack proved to be too much for Bellarmine's defense and young goalies to thwart in Saturday's regular season finale at Rock Stadium as Bellarmine fell 22-7
 
"Today was a tough day for us," said Bellarmine head coach Andrew Whitley. "We came out of the gate in a good spot and carried play early, but just couldn't keep the rhythm going."
 
Bellarmine (10-7, 5-4 ASUN) jumped out quickly to a 3-1 lead, but Jacksonville (11-4, 8-1 ASUN) responded with a 14-1 run to close the half.
 
"We had some opportunities to slow their momentum, but couldn't make the necessary plays to turn the tide," Whitley said. "There was a cascading effect and unfortunately the game got away from us."
 
The Dolphins quickly put any thought of a Knights comeback to bed with four straight goals to start the third period before icing the game in the fourth.
 
"I felt like Jacksonville played with an intensity we didn't match and was able to control the groundball battle all over the field," said Whitley. "That included loose balls at the faceoff X, possession-ending groundballs on the defensive end and rebounds on the offensive end."
 
The Dolphins won 21 faceoffs to the Knights' 11 and picked up 43 groundballs to the Knights' 25.
 
Offensively for the Knights, senior Tayo Oladunmoye registered his second career hat trick. He entered the game with just three goals on the season.
 
Kyle Playsted scored a pair of goals to give him 10 multi-goal games this season, tops on the team. He also assisted on Oladunmoye's second goal.
 
John Alie and Christian Della Rocco scored single goals to round out the Knights' scoring.
 
The 22 goals were the most allowed in program history as the Knights continue to adjust to life without senior captain goalie JC Higginbotham, who was lost for the season due to injury on April 10.
 
Jackson Intrieri led the way for the Dolphins with three goals and four assists while Jacob Greiner had three goals and three assists. Marshall McGuire also tallied a hat trick.
 
In the cage for Jacksonville was Ryan Della Rocco, brother of Christian. He tallied 10 saves on 15 shots (.667) in three quarters of work.
 
Bellarmine turns their focus to the ASUN Championship. They will take on Cleveland State Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET in Colorado.
 
"At the end of the day, we'll flush this one and get ready for Cleveland State on Tuesday in the conference tournament," Whitley concluded. "We are expecting a battle against a team we know very well and our guys are excited to extend our season and get 72 additional hours together by being the four seed. If we win on Tuesday we get 72 more. The goal is to get that 72 more."
 
All five games of the ASUN Championship will be carried on ESPN+ from Falcon Stadium on the campus of the Air Force Academy. The Knights defeated the Vikings 14-9 on April 13 at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium.
 
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