MISENHEIMER , N.C. (May 4, 2024) - The 2024 USA South Men's Lacrosse tournament has come to a close on the campus of Pfeiffer University with the top-seeded Falcons taking the championship for the second consecutive year and the third time in their program's history.
Pfeiffer grabbed a 20-17 victory over second-seeded Piedmont in the highest-scoring championship game in league history.
Pfeiffer jumped out to an early lead by scoring the game's first five goals in just over eight minutes. Piedmont answered with the next two scores to make it 5-2 Pfeiffer after the first 15 minutes. In the second quarter, the Lions opened the scoring just to see Pfeiffer answer with two goals before another Piedmont tally was followed by two more Falcon goals yet again. Piedmont finished the second quarter strong by scoring three straight goals to make the halftime score 9-7 Pfeiffer. Piedmont would take their first lead of the game, 10-9, with just under ten minutes to play in the third quarter thanks to three consecutive scores. Pfeiffer stormed back with four straight goals before the teams traded consecutive goals to conclude the third quarter with a 16-14 Pfeiffer advantage. In the final stanza, Piedmont got to within one goal with 7:42 remaining but the Falcons were able to hold on thanks to not allowing another goal after that while notching two of their own.
Pfeiffer was led offensively by
Trent Orr who scored a game-high five goals with four assists.
Mason Tardiff also added four helpers while
Quinn Becraft scored four times. Defensively,
Nick Pekins grabbed a game-high seven ground balls while
Brandon Luft and
Davis Russell added three caused turnovers each. In goal,
Oliver Buch made 12 saves for the Falcons. For Piedmont, Michael Anderson and Ian Parr each scored a team-high four goals each while Johnny Matrona stopped 11 shots for the Lions.
With the win, Pfeiffer earns the automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Division III Lacrosse Tournament and will learn their opponent and destination during the NCAA Division III Selection Show that will take place on Sunday, May 5 at 9:00 p.m. at NCAA.com
All-Tournament Team
Attack
Brady McGuire, Piedmont
Gabe King, Southern Virginia
Zach DeFazio, Pfeiffer (MVP)
Midfield
Trent Orr, Pfeiffer
Michael Anderson, Piedmont
Tyler Finley, Pfeiffer
Defense
Davis Russell, Pfeiffer
Andrew Pagano, Piedmont
Tobias Ballester, Pfeiffer
Goalie
Oliver Buch, Pfeiffer
Long-Stick Midfielder
Mason Tardiff, Pfeiffer
Short-Stick Defensive Midfielder
Nick Pekins, Pfeiffer
Faceoff Specialist
Elias Solano, Pfeiffer
