FERRUM, Va. -- The Methodist men's lacrosse team recovered from an early 4-1 deficit to defeat Huntingdon, 12-6, on Saturday afternoon in the semifinals of the Southeast Independent Lacrosse Championship.
 
Second-seeded MU (9-8) roared back after No. 3 Huntingdon's early surge and advanced to Sunday's final against top-seeded Ferrum at 1:00 pm.
 
Jay Robinson spotted the Monarchs an early 1-0 lead, just 48 seconds into the contest, but four straight Hawks' goals by four different players gave HC a 4-1 lead by the 6:56 mark of the first quarter.
 
Following the last of Huntingdon's four straight goals, Andrew Ruskey needed just 11 seconds to stop the run and kickstart a 7-0 run that gave the Green and Gold an 8-4 lead at the 6:47 mark of the third quarter. Following Ruskey's goal, Robinson scored for the Monarchs before Ruskey found the back of the cage once more. Jake Smerka, Ben Click and AJ Mejia each added goals before Robinson capped the run with an unassisted marker.
 
Brandon Scheele scored for Huntingdon to halt the run and make it 8-5 with 3:31 left in the third, but three more goals from the Monarchs, one each from Click, Smerka and Ruskey, pushed MU's advantage to 11-5 with 7:50 left in the game.
 
In all, MU outshot Huntingdon, 40-26, won the ground ball battle by 10, 32-22, and claimed 17-of-22 faceoffs. Jordan DeSalvo was 15-for-19 at the faceoff X and picked up 10 ground balls for the Monarchs.
 
Ruskey and Robinson led MU with three goals apiece and Robinson had an assist as well. Click scored twice and Smerka had a goal and two assists. Ty Haith had five ground balls and Jackson Bingham picked up the win in the cage, making four saves.
 
Huntingdon's six goals came from six different player, and Jakob Works led the Hawks with a goal and two assists. Josh Clayton had four ground balls and Fabien Gutierrez took the loss, piling up 12 saves.