New season brings new era for Bellarmine lacrosse- Coach Bart Sullivan at the helm for first season

A new era begins for the Bellarmine lacrosse team in the 2011 season. After the tragic passing of Coach Jack McGetrick, the reins have been handed over to Bart Sullivan, an assistant for the under McGetrick during the past two seasons.

Sullivan is charged with trying to fill the void left by a talented senior class last year that included Derek Hopcroft, Jarrett Davis, and Chase Williams; who were all drafted into the National Lacrosse League.

The Knights will turn to their fallen coach for courage and motivation for their season. “I think the guys took on his persona when they were faced with the adversity of his passing,” Sullivan says. “They knew what coach would have wanted them to do…We're not going to sit here and feel sorry for ourselves; we're going to get the job done.”

Although the bulk of the work was done was by last year's senior class, the Knights do return plenty of players with game experience. Sullivan will need juniors Austin Bright and Luke Acton to expand their roles as the duo combined for 21 goals and 10 assists last season.

The wildcard on offense will be sophomore Trevor Timmerberg. Zac Babo of Inside Lacrosse likes Timmerberg's potential. “He possesses the raw athleticism to excel in any situation as a middie. He can be used on offense, defense, either specialty team, and on face-off wings,” Babo writes.

While the offense will showcase new faces across the board, the defense will have many familiar faces. Austin Powell, Drew Soeder, and Ross Doan all return after starting every game last season. Sullivan will have the luxury of having two goalkeepers capable of manning the pipes as senior Scott Bowles and sophomore Dillon Ward return. Bowles has played in 34 games so far in his career while Ward is coming off a stellar summer as he was named Player of Year in Junior 'A' League, Canada's premier summer box league.

Inside Lacrosse ranked the Knights 37th in their preseason rankings, saying that while they will be a young team, there is still talent throughout the roster. Bellarmine will have plenty of chances to prove themselves against quality teams as they will travel to No. 14 Loyola University on March 5 and to No. 6 Maryland on March 7.

The Knights will open up the season on February 12 against Detroit-Mercy, the game is set for 1:00 p.m.