MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- The Methodist men's lacrosse team used a 7-1 scoring run over the second and third quarters to pull away from Ferrum for a 15-10 win in the championship game of the Southeast Independent Lacrosse Conference Tournament.
 
With the win, the Monarchs close out the season with a record of 15-3 while Ferrum finishes with a final record of 6-12.
 
Despite scoring three first-period goals with a man advantage, the Monarchs were unable to pull away from the Panthers in early going. MU led 4-3 after the first period, but a pair of FC goals to open the second quarter gave Ferrum a 5-4 lead with 11:38 left in the first half.
 
Ben Click tied the game at 5-5 at the 10:49 mark, and Matt Layden gave MU the lead for good with a goal at 4:27. Tyson Haith and Layden added goals in the final 2:31 for an 8-5 lead at the break.
 
Ferrum's Cameron Hines opened the scoring in the third quarter, but the Green and Gold came back with three unanswered tallies, including two from Jake Smerka for an 11-6 lead with 6:12 left in the third.
 
The Panthers managed to get as close as three goals at 11-8 early in the fourth period, but three more MU goals, including Layden's third of the game staked MU to a 14-8 lead with just over three minutes to play.
 
Jackson Bingham improved to 13-2 on the season making four saves in goal. Koby McMahon played the first 59:11 in the cage for Ferrum before being forced to the sideline following a slashing penalty. He made 10 saves.
 
Methodist outshot Ferrum 44-27 despite winning fewer faceoffs (16-13) and picking up fewer ground balls (37-35). The Monarchs were 3 for 6 with a man advantage.
 
Layden, Smerka and Haith all led MU with three goals, while Chris Lombardi added two goals and two assists. AJ Mejia, Daniel Richards, Smerka and Jay Robinson all had four ground balls.
 
Without the benefit of an automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament, the Monarchs will now wait until the tournament field is unveiled on May 7 to see if they will play in the NCAA Tournament.