MISENHEIMER, N.C. – With the Conference Carolinas regular season title on the line, the No. 11 Pfeiffer men's lacrosse team (10-4, 5-1 CC) lost to No. 2 Limestone (14-1, 6-0) as the Saints claimed their ninth consecutive regular season crown. On Pfeiffer's senior day, Limestone outscored Pfeiffer 8-2 in the second half to claim a 19-11 victory.

Eddie Renaud (3 g, 1 a) and Derek Thomas (2 g, 2 a) each finished with four points for the Falcons in the loss. Limestone was led by Mike Messenger (5 g, 1 a) and Reid Reinholdt (3 g, 4 a). Kevin Reisman won 20-of-26 face offs for the Saints and recorded a game-high 11 ground balls.

The first quarter was extremely well played on both sides. Messenger scored just 10 seconds in but Pfeiffer had the answer. Tremendous individual efforts by Mike Triolo and Tucker Hammock put the Falcons up 2-1 at the 9:19 mark. Limestone answered with back-to-back goals before the Falcons scored three straight. Renaud's first tied the game at three and then Renaud set up Kyle Pauwels to give Pfeiffer the lead. Thomas would feed Triolo to complete the 3-0 spurt and give Pfeiffer a 5-3 advantage. The Saints closed the final 1:31 with two goals to knot the game at five.

Renaud started the second quarter scoring 1:26 into the period to put Pfeiffer up one. The Saints surged ahead with four consecutive goals but Thomas scored the final goal of the second half to pull Pfeiffer within two at 11-9.

At the end of the half, Pfeiffer was whistled for a three minute, non-releasable penalty, and it looked like the Saints would take advantage. However, brilliant man down defense by the Falcons cleared the entire three minutes but eventually wore down Pfeiffer. Limestone would outscore Pfeiffer 4-0 in the third quarter to extend the lead to 15-9. Pfeiffer's final surge saw goals by Renaud and Thomas make the score 15-11 with 13:35 to play, but Limestone ended the game with four straight goals to clinch the title.

Limestone held a 44-37 advantage in shots and a 35-22 lead in ground balls. The Saints won 23 of 32 face offs on the day and went 18-for-19 in clears. The Saints were 2-for-5 with the man advantage and the Falcons were 1-for-3 with the extra man.

Patrick Sheridan earned the win in net, making 11 saves. Joe Capstaff started the game and made seven saves before giving way to Michael Moorehead. The freshman also made seven saves in the contest.

The loss today was Pfeiffer's first at home this season. Pfeiffer entered the game with a perfect 5-0 mark at home.

Looking toward the conference tournament, Pfeiffer will enter as the No. 2 seed. The Falcons will take on the No. 3 seed Mount Olive on Friday night at 7 p.m. The Saints, who are the tournament hosts, will take on Belmont Abbey prior to Pfeiffer's game.