FERRUM, Va. -- A 4-0 spurt that spanned the third and fourth quarters lifted the Ferrum men's lacrosse team to a 14-8 win over Methodist on Saturday afternoon at W.B. Adams Stadium.
 
After falling behind 5-1 early in the second quarter, the Monarchs (7-7) battled back to make it 6-5 in favor of Ferrum (7-9) with 14:23 left in the third quarter before the Panthers gained some breathing room with the four-goal burst.
 
Kyle Clarkson and Jake Smerka scored back-to-back goals for the Monarchs after MU had fallen behind 5-1 to make it 5-3. Frank Boxley scored for the Panthers off a feed from Kyle Lister to make it 6-3, but Andrew Ruskey closed out the first half with a goal for MU and Clarkson opened the second half with a score to pull MU within one at 6-5.
 
Lister and Boxley then scored consecutive goals for Ferrum to make it 8-5 entering the fourth, and Tyler Fullem and Boxley scored the first two goals of the fourth to push Ferrum's advantage to 10-5 with 13:00 to play.
 
Chris Lombardi scored off a feed from Jay Robinson and Trevor Dickinson added a man-up goal to make it a three-goal game at 10-7 with 12:03 on the clock, but the Panthers got two more goals, including another tally from Boxley to halt MU's rally and go up 12-7 with 3:49 to play.
 
Ferrum out shot MU, 39-25, and won 12 face offs to 11 for the Monarchs. The Panthers also held MU in check with a man advantage, as the Monarchs converted just 2-of-8 extra-man opportunities.
 
Robinson led MU with three points on a goal and two assists. Dickinson (1g, 1a), Smerka (1g, 1a), Clarkson (2g), and Ty Haith (1g, 1a) each had two points for the Monarchs. John Tartline led the Monarchs with five ground balls and added a caused turnover. Robinson and Jackson Bingham each had four ground balls. Bingham took the loss in the cage, making 10 saves on the day.
 
Lister led all players with six points on three goals and three assists. Marcus Boyer had a goal and four assists, and Boxley finished with five goals. Boyer also had four ground balls, as did Koby McMahon, who earned the win in goal making eight saves.
 
The Monarchs are at Southern Virginia on Tuesday beginning at 4:00 pm.