LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It was a bounce-back effort of epic proportions Saturday afternoon for the Bellarmine lacrosse team as they returned home after dropping two of three road games. The Knights overcame an early three-goal deficit to route Detroit Mercy at Owlsey B. Frazier Stadium 16-4.
 
"Today was a really good effort by our guys and I'm really happy with the 60 minutes we were able to put together," said Bellarmine head coach Andrew Whitley. "My staff and I challenged our guys to adhere to the game plan and execute what we were asking them to do after Cleveland State. I give them a ton of credit because they responded like we were hoping."
 
The attack Saturday kept the pressure heavy on UDM's defense, and it was the Knights' super siblings keying the performance.
 
Not one to be outdone by his brother winning back-to-back ASUN Offensive Player of the Week awards, freshman attack Joe Alie had the best game of his young career by registering a career-high five goals and adding an assist (to brother John Alie, of course) for a career-high six points, doubling his previous high. John, in fact, assisted Joe on two of his five goals.
 
"Offensively, today was big day for the brothers Alie," Whitley said. "Those two have some terrific chemistry as well as being super talented. Sprinkle in Ezra Moore and Ethan Tunucci and today was a big day for the offense."
 
After tying a program record with six goals Tuesday at Cleveland State, John picked up where he left off by starting the scoring just 89 seconds into the game, but Detroit Mercy would score the next four goals to hold a 4-1 advantage after the first.
 
Bellarmine's sluggish start, however, would not carry over to the second quarter. The Knights blew up for seven goals and held UDM scoreless to carry an 8-4 lead into halftime. Bellarmine took advantage of a pair of UDM penalties in the frame, netting two goals in man-up situations. Joe Alie and Moore each recorded hat tricks in the second while the younger Alie's, the first of his career, was capped with a nifty behind-the-back score.
 
The onslaught continued in the third as the Knights netted five goals and once again held the Titans scoreless. Both Alies added goals, with John earning his fourth hat trick of the season, while Tunucci, Robert Pope and Justin Wescoat added their first scores of the game. For Pope, it was the first goal of his career.
 
It was much of the same in the fourth as Tunucci, Joe Alie and Ty Washington each added single goals while the Titans were unable to sneak any shots by Nolan Hudnut or Jack Bryant and the game ended with a 12-goal win for the Knights.
 
"Coach Marks, Coach Smith and Coach Draper put together a terrific game plan and our players stepped up to the challenge put forth by those guys," Whitley added. "That's a great sign moving forward this season!"
 
Despite not denting the scoring column Saturday, Whitley had high praise for a pair of freshmen who helped the attack operate.
 
"I do want to give a tip of the cap to Leo Prosser and Sam Boylston today," Whitley said. "Both came in and facilitated the offense and really allowed for it to have some terrific flow. They contributed an assist, but had a way bigger impact than the scoresheet indicated."
 
Over on the defensive end, Matt Kirton caused three turnovers to match a career high and picked up six groundballs to set a new career high. Between the pipes, Hudnut saved 10 of 14 UDM shots on goal (.714), giving him double-digit saves for the fifth time in six games.
 
An additional component of the Knights' dominance on Saturday was the at the faceoff dot. The faceoff unit won 15 of 23 (.652), led by Cole Messick's 12-for-17 (.706) performance. Aidan Fearn went 3 for 5 (.600).
 
"Matt Kirton, Robert MacMichael and Brady Long scooped 12 groundballs between them and Cole got going at the faceoff X," Whitley said. "Matt chipped in three caused turnovers and he is really having a tremendous season thus far. The defense put together their best overall effort so far this year. To go 46 minutes without a goal against is a Herculean effort and a credit to the discipline of every single guy who stepped on the field today."
 
For the Titans, Aidan Bishop scored twice while Nolan Graalman and Harold Skinner added single goals.
 
Bellarmine now has a week off before they head to the Empire State to face Long Island. The Knights and Sharks will tussle at 2 p.m. ET on March 1 in Brookville, N.Y.
 
"It'll be nice to have a week to clean up some things coming out of this stretch of games as we head into to LIU," Whitley concluded. "Five games in 15 days is a grind and we are better for it. We'll enjoy this one and I know everyone affiliated with the program is looking forward to building on the discipline we showed today."
 
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