MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- A fast start propelled the Methodist men's lacrosse team to a 21-2 win over Piedmont in the semifinals of the Southeast Independent Lacrosse Conference Championship tournament on Saturday afternoon at Huntingdon College.
 
The top-seeded Monarchs (14-3) dispatched No. 4 seed Piedmont (5-10) by racing out to a 10-1 lead by halftime, and a 15-2 lead through three periods. The Monarchs out shot Piedmont 64-11 for the game, including 37-5 in the first half. The Green and Gold also held a 55-26 edge in ground balls and won 22 of 26 faceoffs in a dominating performance.
 
Andrew Ruskey scored two of MU's first four goals, each off a feed from Jake Smerka as the Monarchs raced out to a 4-0 lead less than five minutes into the contest. Tyson Haith scored at 9:49 of the first quarter to make it 5-0, and he then fed Smerka at 3:55 for a 6-0 lead. A Matt Layden to Chris Lombardi connection with 2:26 left in the first period made it 7-0.
 
Layden got in the scoring column off a feed from Smerka at the 13:11 mark of the second quarter to push the lead to 8-0 and Kyle Clarkson's goal off a feed from Aaron Ward at 8:53 made it 9-0. Ruskey took another feed from Smerka with 6:52 left in the first half for MU's final goal of the opening 30 minutes before the Lions got on the board with a goal to close out the second and open the third to make it 10-2.
 
MU's offense continued to click while its defense remained stout in outscoring PC 11-0 from that point on. Ruskey added two more goals in the second half and was the only Monarch to record multiple goals in the second period as 10 different players notched a goal in the second period.
 
Jackson Bingham improved to 12-2 in the cage by making five saves in 45:00 of action. Clay Stevenson and Liam Von Hoene played the final 15:00 and combined to make a pair of saves.
 
Ruskey finished with five goals and an assist and added a pair of ground balls. Layden scored three times with an assist, Smerka finished with a pair of goals and four assists, and Chris Lombardi (2g/1a), Kyle Clarkson (1g/2a), and Tyson Haith (1g/2a) all had three points.
 
Jordan DeSalvo was a perfect 11 for 11 in faceoffs with seven ground balls, and Trent Diaz was 11 for 15 at the X. Josh Brown had three caused turnovers, Dan Richards added a pair of caused turnovers and three ground balls. Smerka and Layden had six and five ground balls, respectively.
 
The Monarchs will now take on the winner of No. 2 Huntingdon and No. 3 Ferrum on Sunday beginning at 1:00 pm CDT.