FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- Greensboro outscored Methodist 8-3 in the second half to earn a 12-7 win in men's lacrosse on Wednesday afternoon at Monarch Stadium.
 
The Monarchs (7-8) battled back from an early 4-1 deficit to tie the game at 4-4 going into halftime before the Pride (5-8) pulled away in the second half.
 
Blaine Wise opened the scoring for GC just 17 seconds into the contest, and Nick Sagraves gave Greensboro a 2-0 lead at the 13:40 mark when he scored off a feed from Wise.
 
Ben Click got MU on the board, finding the back of the net after taking a pass from Jake Smerka, to make it 2-1 at the 7:35 mark of the first quarter, but GC added a pair of goals to open the second period for a 4-1 lead.
 
Smerka scored unassisted 6:43 before halftime to put the score at 4-2, and Click added his second tally of the afternoon at 5:32 to pull the Monarchs within a goal at 4-3. Smerka capped the first-half scoring off a feed from Justin Layden to send the teams into the break tied at 4-4.
 
Greensboro scored three of the first four goals of the third period to take a 7-5 lead, but Smerka's fourth goal of the day pulled MU within one, 7-6, with 31 seconds to play in the period. The Pride answered, however, and Wise gave the visitors an 8-6 lead entering the final stanza when he scored with just seven seconds left on the clock.
 
The Pride seized control of the contest by scoring three straight times to open the fourth quarter and take an 11-6 lead with 5:15 to play.
 
The Pride held a hefty edge in shots, 48-27, and ground balls, 41-32. Methodist also turned the ball over 29 times to just 20 for Greensboro.
 
Andrew Chinigo made 13 saves in the cage for the Monarchs, while Cody Cunningham played the first 58:31 in net before being taken out after committing a penalty and made six saves against seven goals allowed.
 
Smerka finished with five points (4g, 1a) to lead the Monarchs, and Click had a pair of goals. Justin Layden had one goal and one assist for MU. Trent Diaz had a team-best seven ground balls, and Sean Mayefskie had four. Daniel Richards came up with three caused turnovers.
 
For Greensboro, Sagraves led the offense with five points (3g, 2a), and Wise added two goals and a pair of assists. Denis Radcliffe chipped in two goals and one assist. Lamar Jelks scored twice and picked up a game-high nine ground balls. Kyle Chambers had seven ground balls, and Wise added six. Chambers also had five caused turnovers, and Wise had three.
 
The Monarchs will conclude their season on Saturday when they host Ferrum at 1:00 pm.