Buena Vista, VA - In a matchup between two powerhouses in the USA South, the Southern Virginia University men's lacrosse team paid a visit to the defending conference champions, Pfeiffer. The result was not what the Knights had hoped for, as they dropped their opening game in league play, 18-4.

Pfeiffer opened the first quarter with three consecutive goals, putting Southern Virginia on their heels early. Shortly after the third goal, Tyson Mauri found the back of the net off of a feed from Peyton Merwin to put the Knights on the board. They outshot the Falcons through the second quarter, but goals remained hard to come by as a multi-goal deficit faced the Knights by the end of the first half.

With the field tilted in his direction, Jace Lightfoot performed admirably in goal, doing what he could to keep Pfeiffer's attackers at bay. Clay Haacke scored his second of the game just over three minutes into the third quarter to trim the lead to seven, but the Knights weren't able to shrink the deficit further.

Pfeiffer scored the next four goals before Tyson Mauri netted his second of the day on the man-advantage for his team leading 33rd point of the season. In the end, the buzzer sounded to give the Knights their third straight loss. Lightfoot finished with 19 saves, his second highest output of the season. Freshman Kanyun Avner performed well defensively, causing three turnovers and collecting three ground balls.

Southern Virginia will remain home for their next matchup when they host another conference foe, Huntingdon, on Saturday, March 22nd at 12:00 PM. The Knights have yet to lose in three all-time meetings with the Hawks.

For the most up-to-date information and details on the team, visit knightathletics.com and follow @knight_mlax on Instagram.