March 4, 2008

Box Score

LOUISVILLE, Ky - Saint Joseph's (0-4) fell to the Bellarmine Knights (3-1), 12-9, on Tuesday afternoon in men's lacrosse. Steve Varga and Dean Bellos each scored four and three goals, respectively to lead the Hawks in the loss.

Bellarmine got on the board early with two quick goals, six seconds apart by Reed Peterson and Adam Lukanchoff, to give the Knights a 2-0 lead. It would be just four minutes later before Bellarmine would strike again when Matt Holland made it 3-0 with 6:10 remaining in the first period.

The Knight's kept their high-intensity pressure, forcing an SJU turnover, which led to Bellarmine's fourth consecutive goal, this time scored by Andrew Wolford with 5:09 left in the first.

The Hawks didn't give in, drawing two penalties and firing six shots to end the period, one by Steve O'Brien that hit the post. Nevertheless, SJU couldn't find the back of the net and were shut out, 4-0.

Despite SJU's end-of-period resurrection, Bellarmine came out firing away in the second as well, connecting on a goal 1:57 into the period by Adam Gardner. Wolford added to the damage two minutes later to make it 6-0.

Saint Joseph's responded in resounding fashion with a goal three seconds later by freshman Scott Cullinan off an assist from fellow classmate, defender Keith Belson. It was Belson's first collegiate point.

The Knights wasted little time in answering SJU's first score, by adding another of their own, when Wolford completed the hat trick to make it, 7-1in favor of Bellarmine with 6:11 remaining in the first half.

Saint Joseph's fired back with two goals in ten seconds by Bellos. The first goal was assisted by Alex Lopes, the second by face-off specialist Sean Evans (14-for-22). After the rapid-fire goals by Bellos, Varga tallied another goal assisted by O'Brien to make it 7-4 at the end of two periods.

Although SJU seemed to assert itself at the end of the first half, Bellarmine fought back with a pair of goals at the 8:30 mark in the third period to bolster its lead to 9-4. The Knights added another tally two minutes later to make it 10-4 before Varga scored his sixth goal of the season for a 10-5 score line.

SJU couldn't stop the Knights, which scored again 20 seconds later to give Bellarmine a six-goal advantage, 11-5 with 5:33 remaining in the third period.

Varga knocked home his third goal of the game with 10:20 remaining in the fourth quarter with a man down off a pass from Jeff Beal to cut the lead to 11-6. Just over two minutes later sophomore Peter Slowik netted a goal to get the Hawks within four, 11-7 with 7:51 to go. Slowik's goal was assisted by Lopes.

The Hawk 3-1 run was cut down in a hurry as Bellarmine rushed back with a goal by Chase Williams to extend the lead to five, 12-7 with 5:37 left. Bellos completed his hat trick a minute later off a Slowik assist with 4:35 remaining.

The Hawks continued their momentum, drawing a Bellarmine penalty by Hans Van Houten with 3:48 to go, but SJU couldn't convert on the man-up opportunity. Saint Joseph's was 0-5 in man-up situations and the Knights were 0-1 for the afternoon.

Varga cut the lead to three goals for the second time in the game with just over two minutes left to play. Varga's goal was assisted by Lopes, his third of the game. Another man-up opportunity was wasted and the Knights held on for the 12-9 win.

Erik Hotaling made 14 saves in the cage for SJU, which saw its losing streak extend to four games to start the season.

The Hawks will travel to Geneva, N.Y. to take on the Hobart Statesmen on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.