Buena Vista, VA - On senior day at Knight Stadium, the Southern Virginia University men's lacrosse team dropped a physical and high-scoring contest to Methodist, 23-15.

Despite the home-field advantage, it was the Monarchs who assumed early control of the game. The Knights were held scoreless for the opening six minutes and found themselves in a 9-1 deficit by the end of the first.

However, Southern Virginia showed resilience, outscoring its opponents in the second to trim the deficit to 12-6 by halftime. The Knights' veteran leaders led the way, as Peyton Merwin and Clay Haacke scored the first three goals of the quarter, including a remarkable solo effort from Haacke who found the back of the net on an off-balanced shot.

In the third quarter, Abe Salmon helped the Knights creep even closer. Salmon scored two goals in thirty seconds off feeds from Ben Sluga and Tyson Mauri to trim the deficit to four. Caden Bloxham and JT Cutrer were also stellar on the defensive end, combining for several caused turnovers at key moments to spur on the comeback.

Even with the pressure building, Methodist kept with it and managed to sustain a multi-goal lead the rest of the way. Thanks to a stingy Monarchs defense unit, the Knights fell by a score of 23-15, putting a cap on the regular season.

Clay Haacke and Abe Salmon led the attack with four goals each. Jace Lightfoot made 14 saves in goal as the Knights' record dropped to 8-8 overall, and 5-3 in league play.

Following the contest, the Knights honored honored their three seniors who have appeared in a combined 163 games. Jex Mecham, Peyton Merwin, and JT Cutrer have each been with the program for multiple seasons and have served as key leaders for a young Knights squad.

Up Next

Having already clinched a spot in the USA South Tournament, today's result solidifies Southern Virginia as the #4 seed in the upcoming conference tournament. They'll host the fifth seed, Greensboro College, in the first round on Saturday, April 26th, at Knight Stadium. Start time for the game will be announced on the conference website.

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