JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Following a gritty come-from-behind win on Saturday against Mercer, the Bellarmine men's lacrosse team sits in fourth place in the Atlantic Sun, still controlling their own destiny with two games to play.
 
The top four teams in the six-team league earn seeds in the ASUN Championship, which will be played at Rock Stadium, the same field where fourth-place Bellarmine (7-7, 1-2 ASUN) will take on second-place Jacksonville (7-4, 2-1 ASUN) Saturday at 11:30 a.m. ET.
 
While there is so much on the line for the team in the standings, a big storyline this weekend is junior attack John Alie's pursuit of some individual history. Alie is currently sitting on 95 career goals with at least two games remaining. If he scores five more times, he will become the fourth Knight to reach100 career goals joining Kyle Playsted (113), Benny O'Rourk (108) and Christian Della Rocco (101). Additionally, if and when he scores that 100^th goal, it will be his 50^th of the season, matching Della Rocco's program record set in 2023 and giving him the opportunity to set a new record with his 51^st. Additionally, John's brother, Joe Alie, is within three goals of matching Riley Seay's freshman goals record of 30 in 2019. Ezra Moore (21 goals, 23 assists) on Saturday took down Seay's freshman points record of 39, also set in 2019.
 
While the Alies have made scoring look easy at times, going up against the Dolphins, however, has been anything but easy for the Knights. Bellarmine is 4-8 all-time against Jacksonville. The Knights won the first four meetings between 2010 and 2016, but have dropped eight in a row since 2017. Bellarmine last beat Jacksonville 10-9 on March 19, 2016 in Duval County. Jacksonville won last season's matchup at Rock Stadium, blowing out Bellarmine 22-7.
 
The Dolphins will be looking to bounce back from a 17-14 defeat in Salt Lake City at the hands of conference-leading Utah, putting them one game back of the Utes in the ASUN standings. Despite the head-to-head results, the RPI values Jacksonville (No. 43) as slightly better than Utah (No. 45, 4-7 overall, 3-0 ASUN) while Bellarmine is 11 spots behind the Dolphins.
 
On Saturday, the Knights will have to put up with a productive Dolphins offense leading the ASUN averaging 12.45 goals per game.
 
"Jacksonville is led by a high-powered offense that has the ability to attack you in a multitude of ways," said Bellarmine head coach Andrew Whitley. "Jack Taylor is coming off a monstrous performance against Utah. Jackson Intrieri and Daylon John-Hill are having breakout seasons, as well. Intrieri continues to be a steadying force and I think he is underappreciated on the national stage. John-Hill is having a super impactful freshman campaign and I expect will be at the top of folks' scouting reports for quite some time."
 
Taylor's outing against the Utes included five goals and two assists. The junior leads Jacksonville with 28 goals and 47 points overall, while John-Hill is second in each category with 23 goals and 40 points. Intrieri is the leading distributor with 23 assists. Both Taylor and Intrieri were named to the Preseason All-ASUN Team.
 
Though they do not have comparable numbers to the stars of the offense, Whitley also identified two others on the Dolphins' attack who must be accounted for.
 
"Nicky Brown and Ethan Lamond are the Dolphins' most prolific dodgers and can stretch the field if we don't slide, peel and recover effectively," he said.
 
In the cage for the Dolphins is a familiar name, not only because he is the defending ASUN Defensive Player of the Year, but because he is also the brother of former Knight Christian Della Rocco.
 
"Ryan Della Rocco makes all the saves you expect from a great goalie and is always capable of stealing a few throughout the game," Whitley said. "Aaron Toguri and Lucas Fraser lead the poles and are the backbone of a very stout defense in front of Della Rocco."
 
Della Rocco has regressed some, at least statistically, as his save percentage has dropped from .558 last season to .483 (fifth in the ASUN) against a schedule that has featured the likes of Syracuse, Duke and North Carolina. Fraser leads Dolphins defenders with both his 37 ground balls and 19 caused turnovers while Toguri is third in each category with 24 and 13.
 
Collectively, the Jacksonville defense is allowing 12.1 goals per game, third in the ASUN, while the Knights are scoring 11.71 goals per game with their .327 shot percentage, each tops in the league.
 
In the possession battle, sophomore Drew Rippeon has posted a .531 faceoff winning percentage, third-best in the conference among specialists who have taken at least 75 faceoffs.
 
"Drew Rippeon has stepped in and become a formidable presence at the faceoff X and whoever wins that battle will go a long way to determining the outcome Saturday. Our guys are looking forward to the challenge," said Whitley.
 
Opposite Rippeon, the Knights' Cole Messick is coming off a sparkling 17-for-31 (.548) performance against Mercer.
 
"Both us and Jacksonville are currently in control of our respective destinies in the ASUN and Saturday's winner will continue to control their own fate and that's all you can really ask for this time of year!" Whitley concluded.
 
The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
 
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