BUENA VISTA, Va. -- Southern Virginia defeated the Methodist men's lacrosse team, 16-9, on Tuesday evening at The Fields.
 
The Knights (6-9) held MU (7-8) scoreless for a stretch of nearly 30 minutes in turning a 3-3 contest into a commanding 13-3 lead by the 11:26 mark of the third quarter.
 
After falling behind 3-0 early in the contest, the Monarchs came back tie the game at 3-3 at the 7:18 mark of the first quarter. Jay Robinson scored unassisted for MU's first goal, and Andrew Ruskey made it 3-2 when he scored off a feed from AJ Mejia just over two minutes later. Robinson then fed Jake Smerka to tie the contest at three apiece.
 
However, the MU offense went cold for an extended period as SVU took control of the game with a 10-0 run. Payton Kimber scored three goals during the run, and Casey Rich and Zach Danneman each scored two goals during the run.
 
Smerka snapped MU's drought at the 8:41 mark of the third quarter to make it 13-4. Trevor Dickinson scored back-to-back man-up goals for MU to make it 13-6, and Smerka scored once again to pull MU within 13-7 with 4:21 left in the third quarter, but seven would be as close as MU would get down the stretch.
 
Southern Virginia won 21-of-29 face offs, including 15-of-17 in the first half. The Knight also outshot MU, 44-34.
 
Smerka (3g) and Robinson (2g, 1a) led MU with three points apiece. Robinson also had three ground balls. Ty Haith had a goal and an assist and added six ground balls. Jackson Bingham started in goal for MU and allowed 12 goals with four saves in 30 minutes. Griffen Glover played the final 30 minutes and made three saves with four goals allowed.
 
The Monarchs will play host to Piedmont on Sunday beginning at 1:00 pm.