Buena Vista, VA - The Southern Virginia University men's lacrosse team welcomed Vassar College to Knight Stadium on Wednesday afternoon, marking the final non-conference game on the Knights' schedule. Despite getting on the board first, Southern Virginia was unable to keep up with their opponents' explosive offense, dropping their first game on home turf this season by a score of 25-7.

After an early penalty committed by Vassar, Clay Haacke's solo effort made the visitors pay on the man-advantage, recording his 11th goal of the season. The lead was short lived, as Vassar dominated in faceoffs to score the next eight goals, building a comfortable lead heading into the second quarter.

Vassar maintained the onslaught the rest of the way, showing impressive speed and agility in each attack. Peyton Merwin scored the Knight's second of the day off of a feed from Tyson Mauri, taking advantage of another Vassar penalty. Forest Ambridge scored their final goal of the half, using excellent defensive pressure to force the opposing attacker into an own goal.

Ultimately, Southern Virginia could not bridge the gap despite several impressive goals. JC Winterton, Scott DuPaix, and Abe Salmon, were the other Knights to find the scoresheet in the loss. Jace Lightfoot made 11 saves in goal before Daniel Goold checked in for the fourth quarter and made four saves. Despite Vassar having a decisive edge in faceoffs, Ben Sluga performed well for the Knights, winning four of his nine opportunities.

With all non-conference matchups in the rearview mirror, the Knights shift their focus to USA South opponents. On Saturday, March 15th at 1:00 PM, they'll open league play against Pfeiffer, the defending champions. For the most up-to-date information and details on the team, visit knightathletics.com and follow @knight_mlax on Instagram.