LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Bellarmine University lacrosse returns to Atlantic Sun Conference road action as the Knights will square off with Mercer at 11 a.m. (ET) Saturday at Five Star Stadium.

Four of the conference's six teams qualify for the ASUN Tournament. This is a pivotal contest for the Knights. With three games remaining, Bellarmine (4-9 overall) is 0-2 in league play, most recently dropping a 13-12 contest in overtime to Air Force. Queens is also 0-2 in conference action.

Mercer (5-5 overall) is tied with Air Force at 1-1 in ASUN play. Utah and Jacksonville are tied atop the standings at 2-0.

ABOUT MERCER
Mercer opened ASUN play with a 7-4 road win over Queens. The Bears followed with a 24-14 home loss to Utah. Mercer was within 9-7 with less than four minutes left in the second quarter, but the Utes netted two more goals in the period and then pulled away for good by scoring the first three goals of the second half. Mercer has been streaky this season, opening the year with three straight wins before dropping four straight and then winning two in a row before the setback to Utah. Will Zylstra and Dillon Bush both have 24 goals and are tied for sixth in the ASUN at 2.40 per game. The Bears rank third in the conference in scoring offense at 11.20 goals per game.

KNIGHTS NOTES
• Bellarmine holds a 13-3 series lead over Mercer and enters on a three-game winning streak against the Bears, including last season's 17-14 victory in Louisville. The teams last met in Macon in 2024, with the Knights capturing a 17-9 win.
• Bellarmine and Mercer have met in every season except one since 2011. Their 2020 matchup was among those canceled due to the pandemic. The Knights and Bears have been conference counterparts in three different leagues: the Eastern College Athletic Conference (2011-14), the Southern Conference (2015-21) and the ASUN (2022-present).
• Bellarmine made its ASUN home debut last weekend against Air Force and fell 13-12 in overtime to the Falcons. The Knights trailed by three goals on a pair of occasions in the first half but accounted for four of the first five goals of the second half to surge to a 10-9 lead with 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Air Force inched back ahead at 12-11 with a little over a minute remaining, but the Knights forced OT after answering with 41 seconds left. USAFA's golden goal came 28 seconds into OT.
• Bellarmine has three national leaders. Senior attack John Alie leads the country in total points (61), sophomore attack Ezra Moore tops the nation in total assists (36) and sophomore goalkeeper Nolan Hudnut is No. 1 in the land in total saves (181).
• Bellarmine boasts the top 2 national leaders in total points. Moore directly follows Alie with 56.
• The Alie brothers, the aforementioned John and sophomore attack Joe, rank third and fourth in the nation, respectively, in total goals. John has amassed 39 while Joe has accumulated 36.
• John Alie is the ASUN leader in total points while ranking second in total goals, third in goals per game (3.00) and total assists (22), fourth in points per game (4.69) and sixth in assists per game (1.69). Nationally, he's tied for 12th in goals per game and is 14th in points per game. Alie's 61 points this year are tied for third in a single season in program history while his 39 goals are sixth.
• In addition to being the national leader in total assists, Moore ranks fourth in the country in assists per game (2.77). He tops the ASUN in both of those categories, is second to John Alie in total points and is sixth in points per game (4.31, which ranks 21st nationally). Moore's 36 assists this year rank second in program history (Kyle Playsted, 39 in 2023). He set a new program record last weekend with six assists against Air Force. On the first helper, Moore became the seventh player in program history to record 100 career points.
• Joe Alie tied a career high last weekend with five goals against Air Force. It was his ninth hat trick of the season. Alie ranks third in the ASUN in total goals and fourth in goals per game (2.77, which is good for 29th in the nation).
• In addition to being the national leader in total saves, Hudnut ranks second in the country in saves per game (13.92). He is the ASUN leader in both categories. Hudnut registered 15 saves against Air Force, the eighth time this season he's reached that threshold. Overall, he's piled up at least 13 saves in all but two matches. Hudnut's 181 saves this year are the third most in program history (his 212 as a freshman in 2025 is the record).
• Bellarmine ranks fourth in the country in shot percentage (.342).

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