LOUISVILLE, Ky. - In spite of holding its first second-half advantage of the young season, the VMI Keydet lacrosse team dropped a close matchup to the Bellarmine Knights on Saturday, falling 8-5 in Louisville, Ky.
Today's contest was the first time the Keydets had taken on an opponent outside the top-25 national rankings, and VMI appeared comfortable early. The Keydets jumped on top quickly, as sophomore
Jacob Weimer gave the Keydets an early 1-0 lead with his goal, which was assisted on by
Lowell Patterson. VMI's first period attack did not end there, as
Kevin Hill and
Tim Moran would both tally opening quarter goals. Both of the markers were assisted on by
Brett Leonard, and the Keydets took that 3-0 lead after one frame of play. VMI's three goals came on just nine shots.
The second period saw one goal scored by each team. For VMI, its fourth marker of the contest was posted by senior
Matt Harrison, off an assist from
Kevin Hill. At the halftime intermission, the Keydets had a 4-1 lead. VMI appeared to dominate the opening half, The Keydets had scored four goals on seventeen shots, and had dominated Bellarmine in the face-off department, winning five-of-six that had been contested.
With the score 4-2 midway through the third quarter, the Keydets were called for a crucial one-minute penalty, which appeared to turn the tide of the contest. In the ensuing three minutes, Bellarmine would tally three man-up goals to take its first lead of the back-and-forth matchup. The Knights held that 5-4 lead entering the final period, and increased it to 6-4 early on. The Keydets answered, as Weimer notched his second goal of the contest to cut the lead to one, but that was as close as VMI would get.
On the day, VMI was led by Weimer's two goals, as well as
Kevin Hill's two points and
Sean McCoy's sixteen saves. The Keydets will return to action this Wednesday, as they host visiting Presbyterian College. That game is currently scheduled to take place at Delaney Field, located behind Foster Stadium, and the contest will begin at 3:30 p.m.
