FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.  On Saturday afternoon, Methodist University men's lacrosse welcomed Huntingdon College to Monarch Stadium for a USA South Athletic Conference clash. The Monarchs had a great showing on the field by defeating the Hawks 18-9.
 
After the game, Methodist celebrated its six seniors that will be graduating in the coming weeks for all their hard work and dedication towards the men's lacrosse program.
 
THE ESSENTIALS
Final score: Methodist def. Huntingdon, 18-9
Records: Methodist 6-9 (4-4 USA South), Huntingdon 6-10 (2-6)
Location: Monarch Stadium; Fayetteville, North Carolina

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Monarchs did all the scoring in the first quarter and took a 5-0 lead. Jesse Leyble got it going with the first goal followed by Ryan Kavounis scoring two of the next three goals. In between Kavnouis' scores, defender Jake Bandler found the back of the cage before Leyble capped off the first with his second goal.
• Kavounis recorded a hat-trick with his opening goal in the second period, and put Methodist up 6-0. Huntingdon would finally get on the scoreboard midway through the second, goal by Brady Moulton, and then tallied the next two scores, from Colin Sloane & Ian Bruggeman, to cut the Monarch advantage down to 6-3. Leyble got Methodist rhythm going again with his third goal, which also put him at 100 points for his collegiate career. Senior Hunter Vaughan joined the scoring spree with his first goal of the contest and to send the Monarchs into halftime up 8-3.
• After another score by Vaughan to begin the third frame, Bruggeman registered back-to-back goals for the Hawks to bring his team back to within four goals, 9-5. Methodist responded back with four consecutive goals to make it 13-5 before Gage Kettlewell tallied a last second goal, with one second left in the third, for Huntingdon.
• Once again Vaughan started off a new quarter with a goal for the Monarchs, but Bruggeman matched that score with his own for the Hawks. Two of the next three goals after that were recorded by Vaughan -- with Leyble on the other -- to push the Methodist lead to double digits for the first time, 17-7. Caden Bacz and Bruggeman scored the last two goals for Huntingdon while RJ Breeden registered the final Methodist score.

FAST FACTS

• Over the course of the contest Vaughan broke several program records, which includes a game, season, and career mark.
  • He finished with a career-high 11 points, which sets a program record for most points in a single-game.
  • His seven goals today give him 53 total this season, a new single-season record
  • This season he has scored 75 points, a new single-season record
  • For his career he has tallied 201 points, which passes Jake Smerka (198) for the most points in program history
• Senior Tyler Bennett collected a career-high 20 groundballs in the game. This breaks his own single-game record that he set just a couple of weeks prior.
• Bennett had a terrific day in the face-off circle by winning 24 of the 30 total face-offs.
• Leyble set a new career-high in points (six) after scoring four goals and two assists.

UP NEXT
Methodist qualifies for the upcoming USA South Men's Lacrosse Tournament and is locked into the fifth seed. They will have to travel to LaGrange College, the fourth seed, on Tuesday for the first round. The opening face-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.