LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It was a battle Saturday afternoon between Bellarmine and Queens in ASUN lacrosse action at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium in a game with postseason implications for the host Knights. Despite trailing by as many as four, Bellarmine fought back late to win 11-10 on Career Appreciation Day.
 
In addition to the celebrating the careers of the 11 graduating seniors who comprise the winningest class in program history with 32, Bellarmine also celebrated securing their spot in next week's ASUN Championship in Jacksonville, Fla., with the thrilling victory.
 
Justin Wescoat sent in what proved to be the game-winning score with 2:03 left in the game, giving him his third hat trick of the season and the fourth of his career.
 
The goal capped a dominant 7-2 fourth quarter for the Knights, which featured three goals apiece by Wescoat and Michael Blaymires. Bellarmine trailed for 47 minutes and 2 seconds of game clock before Blaymires gave Bellarmine a 10-9 lead, their first since the first quarter, with 4:25 left in the game. That lead lasted just 65 seconds before Queens knotted the game at 10 apiece, setting the stage for Wescoat's dramatic game winner.
 
The win improved Bellarmine to 8-8, 2-3 in the ASUN, while Queens fell to 3-11, 0-5 in the ASUN.
 
"This game is what conference play is all about," said Bellarmine head coach Andrew Whitley. "There are no easy ones and it's about survive and advance. Our commitment to our process was challenged today and the guys' willingness to stick to it, even when we were not getting the desired result, is to be lauded."
 
To get to the point where they had a chance to win, the Knights had to overcome a slow start on both ends of the field. Queens grabbed a 4-3 lead after the first quarter, with leading scorer Jack Royer netting a trio of scores for the Royals. Then, Bellarmine was only able to muster a single goal by Ezra Moore in the second as Queens added two more for a 6-4 halftime advantage.
 
The Royals would tack on two more in the third, while continuing to stifle the Knights' offense, holding them scoreless and handing them their fourth scoreless quarter in as many games. The visitors led 8-4 heading into the final 15 minutes, setting up the late fireworks.
 
"Queens deserves a ton of credit as they came in with a great plan and executed it flawlessly," Whitley said. "They may have the best goalie in the league right now in Nicky West and he was excellent today. We played very good offense all day long and he flat out stole several shots along the way."
 
ASUN leading scorer John Alie contributed one of his two goals in the fourth quarter, as he was the only Knight other than Wescoat or Blaymires to score in the frame. The junior now has 48 goals on the season, two shy of matching Christian Della Rocco's program record with at least the semifinals game at the ASUN Championship remaining.
 
The hat trick for Blaymires, like Wescoat's, was his third of the season. Moore finished with two goals and Leo Prosser added one. Wescoat also tallied a helper to match Royer with a game-high four points.
 
"We are a young team that is very freshman/sophomore driven, but it was our upper classmen who led the way down the stretch and just willed us across the finish line," Whitley said. "Justin Wescoat played like a champion down the stretch, scoring three fourth-quarter goals including the eventual game winner. Michael Blaymires was clutch and delivered in some big spots today down the stretch. Cole Messick had another terrific afternoon and kept getting us possession after possession. Robert MacMichael was there on the support side of the faceoff X delivering four timely ground balls."
 
Messick, celebrating the final home game of his career like Wescoat, went 17-for-24 (.708) on faceoffs, his best performance of the season, and matched his career high with eight ground balls.
 
In the cage for Bellarmine, Nolan Hudnut recorded five saves to give him an even 200 on the year, second-most in the nation and eight shy of matching Dillon Ward's single-season program record. West, his Royals counterpart, made a career-high 19 saves, many of them contributing to the Knights' low scoring output early in the game.
 
Bellarmine now turns their focus to the ASUN Championship on Friday, May 2 at Rock Stadium in Jacksonville. They will be the four seed and face the to-be-determined top seed at 1 p.m. ET.
 
"We earned 120 more hours together and that is a terrific feeling," Whitley concluded. "We will have a puncher's chance on Friday regardless of who we play. It's survive-and-advance time and our guys are playing for more time together. That type of connectivity will give us a chance this time of year."
 
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