LOUISVILLE, Ky.- The Keydets held a 3-1 lead after the first quarter, but a 16-plus minute scoring draught coupled with a pair of 3-0 scoring runs by the Bellarmine Knights resulted in a 9-8 VMI loss Wednesday, March 16 at Bellarmine's Owsley B. Frazier Stadium. Junior Drew Leonard paced the Keydet scoring effort with a hat-trick, while freshman Mickey Hofmeister had a team-best three assists in the losing effort.
The Keydets came out of the gates firing to start first game of their spring break trip, taking a 2-0 lead in the opening moments of the game. Junior Russell East started things off at the 2:01 mark with his first goal of the game on an assist from classmate Keith Long. East's rip was followed by junior Tyler Griffith's fourth score of the season on a feed from sophomore Anderson Caldwell 18 seconds later to give VMI the quick advantage before Bellarmine's first offensive possession.
After a back-and-forth battle in the middle portion of the first, the Knights cut the lead in half with 3:04 left in the first quarter. Knight attackman Andrew Wolford took a feed from Karsen Leung, beating VMI goalie Kelly McMinn to bring the count to 2-1.
The Keydets extended the lead to 3-1 just prior to halftime, as junior Drew Leonard scored his first goal of the contest with 47 seconds left in the first quarter as VMI carried a two-goal advantage into the second quarter of action.
The Knights dominated the second quarter of play, outscoring the Keydets 3-1 in the second frame. Bellarmine began the frame on a 3-0 run with two scores coming from Lance Robinson and a tally from Leung to take a 4-3 lead. The Keydets were able to tie to contest with 1:25 left in the quarter on Leonard's second tally of the day on a feed from Griffith to even things up heading into the half, marking the first time this season the Keydets have been even heading into the halftime intermission.
At the half, VMI held a 25-16 shot advantage to go along with a 13-9 groundball lead. Additionally, junior Stephen Robarge was nearly perfect in the faceoff X, going 8-of-10.
Caldwell's career day continued early in the third quarter, as the midfielder collected the first goal of his Keydet career on a pass from freshman Mickey Hofmeister to aid the Keydets in regaining the lead at 5-4 with 12:11 to play in the third stanza of action.
Following Caldwell's score, Bellarmine ripped off its second 3-0 run of the contest, as Alex Porter knotted the game at 5-5 at the 8:52 mark. With the help of goals from Will Carey and Austin Bright, the Knights carried a 7-5 lead into the final quarter of play.
Andrew Wolford continued the Knight push with a score 54 ticks into the final quarter, extending its lead to 8-5 with just over 14 minutes of action remaining.
Senior Lowell Patterson put an end to the Keydet slide with 10:25 left, beating Knight goalie Dillon Ward on a crank-shot for his fifth score on the season off of a pass from East and bringing the Keydets back within striking distance at 8-6.
Long's first score of the day came at an opportune time minutes later for the Keydets, as he hooked up with Hofmeister and beat Ward with a shot stick-side high to cut the Bellarmine advantage to 8-7 with 7:59 to go in the contest.
Leonard's third score of the game was the equalizer, tying the game for the fourth-time at 8-8 as he took Hofmeister's third assist of the contest for his ninth score of the season to give the Keydets hope with 2:37 left.
However, Leung's first goal of the day was the deciding factor of the contest for the Knights. Following a Keydet man-up opportunity and a successful Bellarmine clear, Leung rolled left on the crease with 25 ticks left, beating a VMI defender and the Keydet keeper, McMinn, for the score to secure the 9-8 Knight victory.
The Keydets nearly answered back after another Robarge faceoff win on the ensuing faceoff, resulting in a pair of chances by Robarge, which were both turned away by Ward in the waning seconds of the contest.
McMinn made 14 saves in the loss while Ward was stellar in the winning effort with 23 stops. The Keydets held a substantial shot advantage as 49-31, as well as a 27-21 groundball lead for the leading groundball team in country. Robarge dominated the faceoff X, going 16-of-21 in his chances. For the first time this season, VMI did not commit a penalty of any kind.
The Keydets continue their spring break trip with a contest against MAAC opponent Detroit on Saturday, March 19 at Titan Field. Live stats, courtesy of the Titans, will be available via VMIKeydets.com.
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