MISENHEIMER, N.C. On Wednesday night, Methodist University battled the USA South leader Pfeiffer University in a back-and-forth contest. The road Monarchs put up an excellent fight but the Falcons fended them off and claimed a 13–11 victory at Lefko-Mills Field.

THE ESSENTIALS
Final scores: Pfeiffer def. Methodist, 13–11
Records: Methodist 8–6 (4–2 USA South); Pfeiffer 9–3 (5–0)
Location: Lefko-Mills Field; Misenheimer, North Carolina

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The home Falcons opened the scoring by getting the first two goals, but then Methodist roared back and scored the next three goals. Within 20 seconds of each other, Jay Legg and Graham Clausen scored to tie the game followed by a goal from Nate Moore put the Monarchs in front 3–2.
• Methodist's momentum carried into the second quarter as an early goal by Ryan Kavounis put his team up by two. For a two-minute span, a barrage of goals was recorded by both teams, as they kept trading points until the score reached 6–4 in favor of the Monarchs. After another exchange of goals, Pfeiffer registered a pair of scores to knot up the game at 7–7, with both goals being scored with under 40 seconds remaining until halftime.
• The Falcons recaptured the lead out of the break, scoring twice to go up 9–7, giving them the lead for the first time since the start of the contest. On two separate occasions, goals by Kavounis and Cy Horner brought Methodist within one but each time Pfeiffer responded, eventually making it a two-goal game, 11–9, heading into the fourth quarter.
• The Monarchs struck first as RJ Breeden fed a pass to Jacob Burnette, who then scored the goal to cut the deficit down to one, 11–10. Midway through the period, the Falcons utilized a couple of good counter strikes which led to goals and put them up by three, 13–10, the largest lead of the game by either side. That proved to be enough of an advantage for Pfeiffer to hang onto the victory, even though Breeden scored one more goal for Methodist.

FAST FACTS

• Four different Monarchs had multi-goal performances: Breeden, Legg, Kavounis, and N. Moore (each scored twice).
• Sophomore Ethan Jahr saved a career-high 18 shots in the loss.
• Clausen and Jay Moore provided the most possession opportunities for Methodist, as Clausen collected six ground balls off faceoffs, while J. Moore picked up five GBs on defense.
• This was the closest matchup between these two programs since the first-ever meeting back in 2017 when the Monarchs lost to Pfeiffer 11–10.

UP NEXT
Methodist returns to Fayetteville to play its last home game of the regular season on Saturday, April 12, when the Monarchs welcome the Tornados of Brevard College. The opening faceoff is scheduled for 1 PM, and after the contest, Methodist will honor its 2025 senior class.