Bellarmine hung tough for the opening 30 minutes, but the 12th-ranked Richmond Spiders outscored the Knights 4-0 in the pivotal third quarter and went on to post a 13-6 victory in a Southern Conference game today at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium.
Coming into today’s contest, Richmond goalie Benny Pugh was leading the nation in goals against average, and he and the Spider defense put their talents on display by blanking the Knights for the first 22 and a half minutes of the game. However, the Knights also showed up on the defensive end, allowing just two goals over that time span.
Richmond tallied their third goal at the 5:05 mark of the second period to take a 3-1 lead. Although the Knights trimmed the margin to just one at the 2:40 mark, the Spiders won the ensuing face off and raced downfield to score just eight seconds later to take a 4-2 halftime lead.
At the break, the Knights actually owned a 17-14 shot advantage, but Pugh put up eight saves in the first 30 minutes.
The Spiders came out on fire in the third quarter and outshot Bellarmine 15-2 in the period, striking for four goals to extend the lead to 8-2. Richmond saw its lead grow to seven early in the fourth period on a man up goal.
Bellarmine fought back to get within five at 10-5, but Richmond scored three straight to post its largest lead of the game at 13-5 before the Knights scored the last goal of the game with just 40 seconds remaining.
The loss overshadowed a great outing for Bellarmine freshman Morgan Macko, who notched his first collegiate hat trick by netting three goals on just four shots. The Knights’ Tucker Ciessau scored two late goals to boost his career total to a Bellarmine-best 77 while Andrew Schoeneck posted Bellarmine’s other goal.
The Spiders’s Dan Ginestro turned in the top offensive performance of the day with three goals and two assists while Richmond’s JP Forester also picked up a hat trick.
Pugh collected 12 saves on the day and allowed just five goals before being relieved by Henry Bouonagurio.
Bellarmine freshman goalie Jordan Dondoyano had another solid outing for the Knights, collecting 13 saves.
Bellarmine falls to 3-8 overall, and the Knights slip into a tie for fourth in the SoCon standings, sharing a 2-3 record with Jacksonville.
Richmond improves to 10-2, 5-0 SoCon.
The Knights return to action next Saturday, traveling to Macon, Georgia to take on Mercer in a 1 p.m. game.
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