MISENHEIMER, NC. — The Southern Virginia University men's lacrosse team dropped their first conference game since joining the league in 2022, falling to Pfeiffer 11-9 on the road Monday afternoon. 

Pfeiffer got off to a flying start, with Jaylin Jones opening the scoring for the Falcons in the first period, quickly followed by Nick Pekins to take a 2-0 lead. The Knights' Peyton Merwin pulled one back just before the end of the period, but Pfeiffer's Quinn Becraft, Zach DeFazio, and Treven King increased the lead to 5-1 early in the second period.

The Knights' Merwin scored his second of the game with just over a minute left in the second period, but Pfeiffer maintained their lead and entered the halftime break with a 5-2 advantage.

The Falcons continued to dominate in the third period, scoring four goals to extend their lead to 9-3. However, Southern Virginia rallied in the final minutes of the third period, with Eric Norr, Michael Brown, and Clay Haacke all scoring to bring the score to 9-5 going into the final period.

The Knights started the fourth period strongly, with Zak Sullivan and Jon Yandow scoring to make it 9-7. Norr then scored his second of the game to bring the Knights within one goal of tying the game. However, Pfeiffer's Zach DeFazio and Quinn Becraft scored to extend their lead to 11-8. The Knights scored a consolation goal through Norr in the final minutes of the game, but it was not enough to change the outcome.

In his return from injury, Eric Norr had a solid outing with a hat-trick while Merwin finished with three points off two goals and one assist. Caleb Brodie did all he could, recording 17 saves off 28 shots faced on goal. 

The Knights will look to bounce back on Saturday, taking on league-leading Piedmont in Knight Stadium at 1 pm.