JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Bellarmine lacrosse team finishes its regular season on Saturday on the road in Jacksonville. The opening matchup is scheduled for 12 p.m. ET at Rock Stadium.

Belarmino (9-6, 5-3 ASUN) is locked into fourth place at next week’s ASUN Championship. Meanwhile, Jacksonville (10-4, 7-1 ASUN) is in a three-way tie for first place with Utah and Air Force.

“Saturday will be an interesting game,” said Coach Bellarmine. Andrew Whitley. “Jacksonville is playing great lacrosse and definitely has a lot to play for.”

The Knights are 4-7 all-time against the Dolphins. Bellarmine won the first four meetings between 2010 and 2016, but has lost seven in a row to Jacksonville since 2017. The Knights last beat the Dolphins 10-9 in North Florida on March 19, 2016.

“We haven’t beaten the Dolphins since 2016, although we’ve had a couple of chances in recent seasons, 2021 and 2023 in particular,” Whitley said.

In 2021 in Jacksonville, the Dolphins scored the final two goals of the game in the final six minutes en route to a low-scoring 8-7 victory.

Last season, Jacksonville won at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium 13-12. It was a racing game for both teams. Wilson Murphree scored with 23 seconds left to bring the Knights within one. Bellarmine then won the ensuing faceoff, but could not achieve the tie. Murphree, Christian Della Rocco, Tayo Oladunmoye and Pat Anderson scored three points each in that contest.

Defense has been the name of the game the last few seasons for the Dolphins. This year, Jacksonville finds itself with the best defense in Division I, allowing 7.50 goals per game, after finishing second in 2022 and ninth in 2023. Their goal allocation is one goal better than the second-best team in the country , Towson at 8.54 goals per game. Goalkeeper Ryan Della Rocco has been a big reason for their success.

“They are led by one of the best goalies in the conference, Ryan Della Rocco,” Whitley said. “He’s been playing at an extremely high level this year and has established himself as the cornerstone of an extremely talented defense. I know Christian is very excited to play against his brother for the first time in a meaningful situation. The first ‘Della Rocco Bowl ‘It will definitely have a sense of spirit.’

Ryan Della Rocco is eighth in Division I with his .570 save percentage.

Offensively, Jacksonville leads the ASUN with an average of 13.64 goals per game.

“Their offense has really started to find its rhythm in recent weeks and as a result, Jacksonville has really stepped up,” Whitley said. “Jacob Greiner has been a proven commodity since arriving in Jacksonville and is potentially having his best season as a collegiate. Nicky Brown has burst onto the scene as an extremely effective pass rusher and is developing into an impactful scorer. Jackson Intrieri continues to be so “It’s as good a facilitator as ASUN is and has elevated his game to completely new heights. “The development of the unit has been extremely impressive and has been a central cog as Jacksonville has not missed a beat this season.”

Greiner is fourth in the ASUN with an average of 3.64 points per game. Intrieri and Brown have scored 29 and 28 goals, respectively, and Brown leads the Dolphins with 20 assists.

Nathan Kapp leads Jacksonville’s faceoff unit and is second in the ASUN with a .575 faceoff winning percentage.

“Nathan Kapp is having a great season in the X matchup and has really helped Jacksonville tilt the field at times this year in the battle for possession,” Whitley said. “Last season, Grant Guthrie went toe-to-toe with Kapp and I imagine we’ll need all three of our guys to go toe-to-toe (Guthrie along with Aidan fear and Cole Messick) to win the battle at the X this year. “The team that gets the best out of that facet of the game could have a significant advantage in determining the victor on Saturday.”

Guthrie was 12-for-23 with 8 ground balls last season against Jacksonville. The teams split the matchups 14-14 overall.

“We are excited to conclude the regular season against a longtime rival as we head into the ASUN tournament on Tuesday,” Whitley concluded.

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