VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- Matt Layden scored his 100th career goal in his final game for the Monarchs as the men's lacrosse team dropped a 15-7 decision at Virginia Wesleyan in their season finale on Wednesday evening.
 
The Monarchs trailed just 6-5 at halftime, but a 7-2 surge by the Marlins (4-10) in the third quarter sealed the win for the home team. Layden's 99th goal came with 10:17 in the second quarter and staked the Monarchs to a 5-4 lead before the Marlins scored at 9:05 and 7:12 to assume a 6-5 lead at the break.
 
Virginia Wesleyan opened the third quarter with six straight tallies, the first coming just 19 seconds in, to stretch out to a 12-5 lead with 2:54 left in the period.
 
Michael Bradley scored off a feed from Layden, one of two helpers on the day, to stop the drought and make it 12-6 at the 2:28 mark. Following another VWU goal, Layden became the second player in program history to reach 100 goals with his final tally just before horn sounded signaling the end of the third period.
 
With four points on the day, he wraps up the season with 52 points and moved into second place all-time at MU with 152 points. His 100 goals are also second all-time and his 52 assists are tied for second all time.
 
The Marlins outshot MU 46-38 and had 28 shots on cage to just 18 for the Monarchs. VWU also won 15 of 24 faceoffs and held a 36-27 edge in ground balls.
 
In addition to Layden's four points, Bradley and Bryce Kephart scored a pair of goals each. AJ Mejia had a team-best five ground balls. Kephart added three ground balls and Layden and Parke Kissner each had two to go with a ground ball.
 
Jackson Bingham started in goal and made 11 saves against 10 goals allowed in 41:17. Clay Stevenson played the final 18:43 and allowed five goals with a pair of saves.