BELMONT, N.C. - Ryan Cummings netted a hat trick but the Pfeiffer men's lacrosse team (1-4, 0-1 CC) dropped its Conference Carolinas opener at Belmont Abbey (4-1, 1-0) by a final score of 18-8 on Saturday afternoon.

Jared Nelson, Blade Garlow, Kyle Barna, Myles Dalton-Steinhart and Cody Lamond all tallied one goal in the contest.

Alex Skidmore led the Falcons with five ground balls and Garlow added four. Dillon Malloy caused two turnovers and Mike Moorehead made 20 saves in the game, his second 20 save effort on the season.

Belmont Abbey scored 15 of the game's first 17 goals in the conference matchup and stormed out to a 15-2 advantage. Pfeiffer would rally for four straight goals before the Crusaders netted three straight. Pfeiffer would get two more in the final 25 seconds of the game.

Adam Wiedemann scored four goals and added an assist to pace the Crusaders. Belmont Abbey held a 46-26 advantage in ground balls and went a perfect 16-for-16 in clears. BAC held a 52-25 edge in shots and won 21-of-29 face offs on the afternoon.

Pfeiffer will return to action on Monday afternoon as they host Drew at 3 p.m.