FERRUM, Va. -- Ferrum College raced out to an 8-1 lead then withstood a late rally from the Methodist men's lacrosse team in claiming a 16-13 win in the SEILC Champion title game on Sunday afternoon.
 
Frank Boxley scored three of the Panthers' first five goals as FC built a 5-0 lead by the 4:37 mark of the first quarter before MU got on the board, courtesy Ty Haith's goal off a feed from Jay Robinson in the opening stanza's last minute to make it 5-1.
 
The Panthers opened the second quarter scoring three straight, and four of the first five, to assume a 9-2 advantage with 5:33 on the clock. The Monarchs responded by scoring two of the final three goals of the first half, and the first two of the third quarter, to inch within four (10-6) on one of Jake Smerka's six goals at the 12:24 mark.
 
Ferrum managed to stretch its lead back out to seven (15-8) on a Marcus Boyer goal with 12:59 left in the game before a late MU run simply ran out of time. Robinson and Kyle Clarkson each scored, and Smerka scored twice, in the game's final 10 minutes to make it a three-goal game, but MU could not fully get over the hump.
 
Robinson (3g, 3a) and Smerka (6g) each led MU with six points. Clarkson scored twice, Chris Lombardi had two assists, and Ty Haith scored once with one assist. Trent Diaz won 18-of-24 face offs with four ground balls, AJ Mejia had nine ground balls. Jackson Bingham took the loss, making five saves on the day.
 
Koby McMahon made 13 saves for the Panthers to earn the win in the cage, and Boxley (5g, 1a) and Kyle Lister (3g, 3a) each had six points.