Men's Lacrosse | 3/31/2018 6:07:00 PM

Box Score MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Kendrick Ballard's goal with 41 seconds to play broke a 6-6 tie and lifted the Huntingdon men's lacrosse team to a 7-6 win over Methodist on Saturday afternoon at Samford Stadium.
 
Ballard's late goal proved the difference in a game that neither team led by more than two goals at any point in the contest. Methodist actually outshot Huntingdon, 32-23, including 21-8 in the second half, but HC's Matt Murphy made 13 stops, while MU's Jackson Bingham came up with 10 saves on the day.
 
Trailing 4-3 at the break, MU tied the game at 4-4 when Matt Layden fed Bryce Kephart for a goal at the 9:21 mark of the third period. Ballard put the Hawks up 5-4 at the 5:50 mark with a man-up goal off a feed from Zach Barnhill.
 
Seventeen seconds after Ballard's goal, Layden fed Ian Mastriani, who then beat Murphy to make it 5-5 with 5:33 left in the period.
 
Huntingdon's Austin Saucier scored at the 11:51 mark of the fourth quarter to push the hosts in front one more time at 6-5, but Layden tied the game at 6-6 with an unassisted goal at the 3:37 mark that set up Ballard's game winner.
 
The Hawks won the ensuing faceoff after Ballard's goal and ran out the clock to secure the win.
 
Huntingdon won 13 of 17 faceoffs on the day, and won 25 ground balls to 19 for the Monarchs. Methodist was 0 for 3 with a man advantage, while Huntingdon was 1 for 3 in extra man opportunities.
 
Layden finished with three goals and two assists to lead the MU offense. Kephart added a goal and an assist. A.J. Mejia and Brendan Siemen each had four ground balls for the Monarchs.
 
Ballard finished with three goals for the Hawks, Saucier scored twice and Adrian Harper handed out a pair of assists. Sam Hitt won 12 of 16 faceoffs with 10 ground balls, and Mac Puller and Tyler Keiser each had four ground balls.
 
Methodist is back on the field on Wednesday at Randolph-Macon beginning at 4:30 pm.