BIRMINGHAM, AL. – Earning their first victory of the season, the Southern Virginia University men's lacrosse team took down Birmingham-Southern on the road in a close battle, 8-6, Friday afternoon. 

The first quarter saw the two teams struggle to get their offense going while displaying a strong defensive effort, keeping the first quarter knotted at one off a Jon Yandow unassisted goal. 

The Knights got things going in the second quarter, using a three-goal run to jump ahead 4-1, with goals coming from Clay Haacke, Gabe King, and Connor Haacke. Southern Virginia's defense held steady, doing its job and keeping the Panther to another one-goal quarter. 

Birmingham-Southern struck quickly after the halftime break, cutting the deficit to one, 4-3, before Yandow connected with Eric Norr for a strike, bumping the team back to a 5-3 lead. Two minutes later, after denying the Panthers' man-up unit, Seth Millington carried the ball down the field, finding Sterling Thatcher for a man-down goal, igniting the Knights' bench. 

The momentum continued as Yandow, and King would strike twice more, giving Southern Virginia their largest lead of the game, 8-3, at the end of the third quarter. 

Birmingham-Southern did not quit, and we're not about to go down without a fight. The fourth quarter was all Panthers as they had their eyes set on a comeback, scoring three unanswered goals to pull within two, 8-6, with 37 seconds remaining in the game. 

The Panthers won the ensuing face-off, managing to get a shot off in the quick transition, but the shot went wide, and Birmingham-Southern used their final timeout. With seconds left, the Panthers constructed a play and got a shot off, but the shot was blocked, and Michael Brown scooped up the ground ball, locking in the team's victory. 

Coming off of injury, Jon Yandow led the team with four points off two goals and two assists, while Gabe King scored two goals and Zak Sullivan dished out two assists. In the cage, Caleb Brodie was a menace, recording a season-high 19 saves in the strong defensive effort. 

The Knights have a quick turnaround and will look to celebrate their accomplishments tonight, but will quickly shift their focus and eyes on LaGrange College scheduled on Saturday, March 18, at 1 pm. 

For the most up-to-date details on the team, follow @knight_mlax on Instagram and visit knightathletics.com for live stats and streaming options.