CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Bellarmine men's lacrosse team faces a familiar foe on Tuesday, though said foe no longer resides in the Atlantic Sun with the Knights. Bellarmine will head all the way up I-71 to face Cleveland State on Tuesday, with opening faceoff scheduled for 3 p.m. ET.
 
Bellarmine is coming off a snowy 13-8 win this past Saturday at Canisius.
 
The Vikings have dropped the first two games of their season, though they have come against stiff competition. They opened with a 14-4 loss at Ohio State and, this past Wednesday, visited No. 1 Notre Dame and left with a 24-6 loss.
 
CSU, now members of the Northeast Conference where they were picked to finish second in the preseason coaches poll, were in the ASUN with Bellarmine from 2022 through 2024. The teams also met on a regular basis from 2018 to 2021 while CSU competed as an independent.
 
"This game has turned into a bit of a rivalry over the past couple of seasons because of ASUN play," said Bellarmine head coach Andrew Whitley. "It'll be exciting to keep the game going in the nonconference slate with CSU's departure to the NEC."
 
The Knights are 5-4 all-time against the Vikings. The teams split two meetings last season, with Bellarmine rallying from four down to protect home field in a 14-9 win on April 13. CSU, however, downed Bellarmine 15-12 in the first round of the ASUN Tournament 17 days later in at Air Force Academy in Colorado. The win was CSU's first-ever postseason win.
 
Their departure from the ASUN following the 2024 season did not come without some souvenir hardware. Head coach Andy German was named ASUN Coach of the Year following their 9-8 campaign that saw them set a school record for wins. A pair of freshmen, defender Griffin Valli and attack Wyatt Robertson, earned ASUN All-Freshman laurels, with Valli also finding himself on the All-ASUN Second Team.
 
Robertson has yet to find the back of the cage after two games this season. Freshman attack Brennen Hickey (three goals) and senior middie Jacob Lubrant (two goals) are the only Vikings with multiple scores. Still, senior middies Alex Van Voorhis, who led the Vikings with his 40 points (20 goals, 20 assists) a year ago, and Amiri Austin, who ranked fifth on the team with 31 points (19 goals, 12 assists), returned from last year's historic season.
 
"Three of their top scorers return from one of the best teams in their program's history," said Whitley. "Van Voorhis, Robertson and Austin all are prolific scorers and have grown from last season to this season. 
 
Valli leads the Vikings with four caused turnovers through two games.
 
Between the pipes, keeper Justin Dalum has earned all 120 minutes for CSU so far this season. The junior played in five games last season, starting four, recording a .383 save percentage as a backup to Connor Kernan. He did not appear in either game against Bellarmine.
 
"Dalum brings back some quality experience in the goal," said Whitley. "We'll have to shoot the ball well to score on Tuesday."
 
With the high turnover rate of both team's rosters, Whitley says the 2025 season will be one of transition for each team in Tuesday's matchup.
 
"Each team lost some very central figures to their 2024 rosters, so the next era for each program has begun and it'll be an exciting ball game for both teams," Whitley said. "It'll be a really good barometer for our progression this year as both programs are very familiar with each other."
 
The NEC this season reinstated men's lacrosse as one of its championship sports after a two-year hiatus. Robert Morris and Detroit Mercy also fled the ASUN to become associate members of the NEC with Cleveland State. Bellarmine will play all three during the 2025 campaign.
 
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