AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – The Bellarmine lacrosse team saw their season conclude Tuesday afternoon with a 15-12 loss to Cleveland State in the first round of the ASUN Championship at Falcon Stadium.
 
"The kids gave us everything they had to give," said Bellarmine head coach Andrew Whitley. "Unfortunately, it just wasn't our day today."
 
Bellarmine falls one win shy of consecutive double-digit win seasons after reaching the 10-win marker for the first time in school history in 2023, finishing with 11. The senior class moves on having won 29 games against Division I competition, the most in program history.
 
"I'm really sad for this group of seniors," said Whitley. "They leave with the most Division I wins in the history of the program. Their names are all over the Bellarmine record book for both individual and team accomplishments."
 
As in the first matchup between these teams, Bellarmine (9-8) fell behind early as Cleveland State (9-7) jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Christian Della Rocco finally broke the seal for the Knights with 5:58 left in the first quarter. Unlike the first matchup, however, the Vikings would lead the whole way en route to their first-ever postseason win.
 
Bellarmine was able to cut the deficit to one at 4-3 after a goal by Kyle Playsted with 2:47 left in the first, but that would be as close as they would get to CSU as the Vikings went on a 7-3 run to open an 11-6 advantage midway through the third.
 
Trailing 12-7, the Knights would make it interesting with three straight goals, including Wilson Murphree's second goal of the day with nine seconds left in the third period, to cut the lead to two at 12-10. Murphree's score was also the second goal by the Knights with less than 10 seconds on the clock after Playsted scored with less than one second left in the first quarter.
 
Benny O'Rourk scored with 12:30 left in the fourth to bring Bellarmine within three at 12-9 and Della Rocco would score consecutive goals with 8:47 and 6:59 left in the game to cut the lead to two at 14-12.
 
Still, the Vikings answered the bell every time Bellarmine threatened. After the Knights were within two, CSU forced a shot clock violation and saved a shot by Playsted before Connor Zwagerman scored an exclamation-point goal with 24 seconds remaining for a 15-12 final.
 
"We tried to speed the game up in the second half to take advantage of our attack, but I just felt like we ran out of time," Whitley said.
 
With the win, CSU moves on to face top-seeded Utah in the semifinals on Friday. The Vikings were led by Wyatt Robertson, who scored five goals and handed out three assists, and Parker Yearego, who recorded a hat trick plus an assist.
 
"Cleveland State deserves all the credit in the world as they controlled tempo throughout the game," said Whitley. "They were able to make the shots they generated and we just couldn't get saves at key times. They also came up with the significant contested groundballs at critical times. As a result, all the inflection point plays that tend to decide lacrosse games seemed to go CSU's way."
 
For the Knights, Della Rocco tallied a season-high five goals and added two assists to match a career high with seven points.
 
Playsted registered his fifth hat trick of the season and handed out four assists, one shy of his program record. His seven points matched his season high and he finishes his Bellarmine career with program records of 113 goals, 109 assists and 222 points.
 
O'Rourk scored twice, both in the fourth quarter, and finishes his Bellarmine career having scored at least one goal in his final 38 appearances. He also added three assists.
 
"Kyle, Benny and Delly had a hand in every single goal we scored today and they played like the three all-time leading point producers in the history of the program," said Whitley.
 
"They invested in the program and gave of themselves in ways that were above and beyond," Whitley added about his graduating class of 15 seniors and graduate students. "Their legacy will have a lasting effect on our team and they have left the program far better off for their having been a part of it. My staff and I are grateful for their faith and commitment in and to Bellarmine lacrosse."
 
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