LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bellarmine field hockey's Senior Day celebration was spoiled by visiting Central Michigan Friday afternoon at Trager Stadium. Despite a resilient effort by the homestanding Knights, CMU walked out 3-2 victors as Bellarmine's season came to a close.
 
Central Michigan (9-8, 4-5 MAC) clinched their spot in next week's MAC Championship with the win. The Chippewas will face in-state rival Michigan State in East Lansing in a nonconference tilt to close their regular season on Sunday.
 
Bellarmine (2-16, 2-7 MAC), who was eliminated last weekend, heads into their offseason still looking for their first trip to the conference tournament since joining in 2020.
 
CMU got on the board less than four minutes in on a fast break score by Mallory Camryn. Mora Rulli found her on the left side of the cage and slipped the ball by a Knights defender to Camryn, who lifted it up and over Workman for a 1-0 lead. It was the senior's team-leading 17th goal of the season, good for third in the MAC.
 
The Chippewas added to their lead with 11:25 remaining in the second. Rulli forced a turnover just outside the circle, lost the ball, and then blocked a pass to regain possession again before firing while moving to her right from about 12 yards out to beat Workman. It was the freshman's fourth goal of the season.
 
Still, Bellarmine was not without some tricks on the afternoon of Halloween.
 
Freshman Madison Patton scored with 7:12 left in the third to cut the deficit in half and give the Knights their first goal since October 17 at Ball State. Anouk Richters drove the right end line and worked around a pair of Chippewas defenders to find Patton in front of the left side of the cage for the easy score.
 
The goal for Patton was her second of the season to tie her with Luna Tuncay and Richters for the team lead. It was also just the second Bellarmine goal this season not coming on a penalty corner opportunity. The other, coincidentally, was Patton's other score in the Knights' 2-1 win on September 28 at Longwood.
 
The Chippewas, though, would answer back. Cameron Pluciennik put CMU back up two with 9:42 remaining as she accepted a pass from Rulli and moved from the right side to the front of the cage and sent a backhanded shot in for her fifth goal and a 3-1 lead.
 
Battling until the end, the Knights would bounce back once again with a back-handed goal by Dominique Hudson on a penalty corner with 25.6 seconds left to cut the deficit to one at 3-2. It was the first score of the sophomore's career. CMU, however, would run out the rest of the clock to secure the win.
 
Workman finished with five saves to give her 119 on the season, one shy of matching last season's career-high 120, and the seventh-highest single-season total in Knights history. She accumulated 370 career saves, the most in Bellarmine's Division I era and second-most all-time.
 
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