FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- The Methodist men's lacrosse team rode a dominant first half to a 10-6 win over Alvernia on Friday afternoon at Monarch Stadium.
 
Methodist (3-3) jumped out to a 5-1 lead by halftime and held off a brief charge from the Crusaders (1-3) in posting the four-goal win.
 
Methodist out shot Alvernia, 24-7, in the opening 30 minutes, and forced 15 turnovers in taking a four-goal lead at intermission. Jaylen Robinson started the scoring for the Green and Gold when he netted an unassisted goal 58 seconds in the contest. At the 9:46 mark, Mack Cox picked up one of his two assists when he found Ben Click on the doorstep for a 2-0 lead.
 
In the second quarter, Alvernia's Zach Brommer halved the AU deficit with an unassisted score 37 seconds into the period, but Matt Layden, Jake Smerka and Sean Mayefskie scored for the Monarchs help MU close the period on a 3-0 run and take the four-goal lead at halftime.
 
The Crusaders got back in the game with back-to-back scores to open the second half. Brommer and Brian Schay each scored in the first two minutes of the third quarter to make it a 5-3 game, but the Monarchs answered with three straight tallies and took an 8-3 lead on Trevor Dickinson's goal with 5:20 left in the period.
 
Liam Van Hoene, making his first collegiate start, picked up the win for the Monarchs as he made nine saves against six goals allowed in 60 minutes. Mason Etier played the full 60 minutes for Alvernia and made 14 saves on the day.
 
Methodist finished the game with a 40-24 edge in shots taken and the two teams were even in ground balls at 44-44. Alvernia won 12-of-20 face offs, but the Monarchs held the Crusaders to 1-of-10 with a man advantage and forced 31 turnovers.
 
Click led MU with three points on a pair of goals and one assist. Justin Layden (1g, 1a), Cox (2a), and Matt Layden (2g) all finished with two points. Mayefskie led the Monarchs with six ground balls, Jacob Fitch, Matt Layden and Josh Brown had four apiece, and Brown also had three caused turnovers.
 
For Alvernia, Brommer finished with three goals and added six ground balls. Mark Grove led the Crusaders with eight ground balls, and Alex Evans, Benjamin Manning had six each. Evans was 12-of-20 in the face off X, and Grove forced three turnovers.
 
The Monarchs return to action on Tuesday when they play Wabash at Furman University beginning at 4:00 pm.