Bellarmine lacrosse head coach Andrew Whitley today announced the Knights’ schedule for the 2025 campaign. In the program’s 21^st season, the Knights will split their 16-game schedule evenly between home games at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium and road games.

“I’m really excited about the 2025 season!” said Whitley. “We are going to compete in eight different states and three times zones over the course of the season. The geographic diversity of our opponents represents the geographic diversity of our roster with players from 20 states and two Canadian provinces.”

The schedule is frontloaded as the Knights will play on four-out-of-five Tuesdays, in addition to all five Saturdays, between February 11 and March 11. The ASUN Conference in 2025 will feature just six teams following the departures of Cleveland State, Detroit Mercy, Lindenwood and Robert Morris. (Lindenwood closed their men’s lacrosse program while the other three joined the Northeast Conference.) Bellarmine’s entire conference schedule will be played on five consecutive Saturdays between March 29 and April 26 to close the season.

For the third straight season, the Knights will open the campaign at Duke on Saturday, February 1. The Blue Devils were a 2-seed in the NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championship this past May, reaching the quarterfinals before falling to eventual national runner-up Maryland. This will be Bellarmine’s fifth meeting with Duke, with all games taking place in Durham, N.C.

Bellarmine will open their home schedule a week later on Saturday, February 8 against Mercyhurst. This will be the second time these programs have met. The first was in Bellarmine’s first season, 2005, as they won a 13-12 overtime contest at Saxon Stadium on the campus of Mercyhurst in Erie, Penn. Mercyhurst will be in their first year of a four-year reclassification process after jumping from Division II to Division I.

The Knights then face their first quick turnaround as they hit the road to take on Ohio State on Tuesday, February 11 in Columbus. This will be Bellarmine’s 13^th all-time matchup against their former conference mates in the GWLL and ECAC.

Canisius then hosts Bellarmine three days later on Saturday, February 15 at the Demske Sports Complex in Buffalo, N.Y. The Knights will be looking to avenge an 8-7 loss in their home opener to the Golden Griffins last February.

Bellarmine then faces consecutive former ASUN foes as they travel to Cleveland State on Tuesday, February 18 before heading home to face Detroit Mercy on Saturday, February 22. The Knights split two games with CSU in 2024, though the Vikings ended BU’s season in the first round of the ASUN Championship. The Titans were victorious at Frazier Stadium against an injury-riddled Knights team in their final home game of 2024, 18-10.

After a week off, Bellarmine travels to Brooklyn, N.Y., to take on Long Island on Saturday, March 1 in the first meeting between the programs.

“Long Island University will be a new addition to the schedule and, coming off a 10-win season, will be an exciting opponent to challenge ourselves as we travel to new part of the country during spring break,” added Whitley.

The Knights then head to Milwaukee, Wisc., to face Marquette for the seventh time in eight seasons on Tuesday, March 4. Bellarmine won 11-5 at Frazier Stadium in March and is 5-5 all-time against the Golden Eagles.

The Knights then open a season-long four game homestand starting with Robert Morris on Saturday, March 8. Bellarmine bested the Colonials 15-12 in April and are 9-9 all-time against RMU. Hampton then visits on Tuesday, March 11. Bellarmine won in Hampton, Va., in February and is 3-0 all-time against Hampton by a total tally of 67-15.

St. Bonaventure then completes Bellarmine’s 11-game nonconference schedule with a visit on Saturday, March 15. Bellarmine took care of the Bonnies in western New York last February, 13-9, and is 3-1 all-time versus SBU.

“Our players are looking forward to competing against a nationally relevant schedule that includes national powers in Duke and Ohio State, as well as several long-time regional rivals before we enter ASUN play,” said Whitley.

The entirety of Bellarmine’s ASUN conference schedule will then be played on five consecutive Saturdays to conclude the regular season. BU hosts defending champions Utah on March 29, visits Air Force on April 5, hosts Mercer on April 12, visits Jacksonville on April 19 and hosts Queens in the regular season finale on April 26. The Knights went 2-3 against the 2025 group of ASUN teams in 2024, winning at Mercer 17-9 and at Queens 12-5.

Through three years in the conference, the Knights boast a 12-11 record in ASUN play.

“The ASUN is shaping up to be a nationally competitive conference with two-time defending champion Utah, as well as nationally ranked Jacksonville and Air Force leading the way,” concluded Whitley. “We will have to be at our best during conference play to make a run at our first conference championship.”

Defending ASUN runner-up Jacksonville will host the ASUN Championship May 2-4.

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