Joseph Marvin: Assistant Sports Information Director
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - The Brevard College Tornados Men's Lacrosse team (3-4, 1-1 USAS) secured its first USA South Conference victory of 2019 with a 17-7 victory over the Methodist Monarchs (5-4, 1-1 USAS) on Saturday afternoon in Fayetteville, N.C.
The Tornados used an early scoring run alongside lockdown defense to pull away with a conference victory in just their second conference match of the season.
Senior attacker Jack Shade led the way for Brevard on the afternoon, tallying five goals and an assist for a grand total of six points. Hewitt Farr added in four goals and two assists, while Sam Duffie enjoyed his best performance of 2019, scoring three times coupled with three assists for six points.
Jackson McKaig added three goals to BC's offensive attack, while Paxton Brown and Chris Demcovich each scored for Brevard. Demcovich's goal at the 13:09 mark in the third quarter was his first goal as a BC Tornado.
Defensively, Robert Kokal snagged six ground balls while Demcovich and Daniel Ramos each tallied five on the afternoon. Senior goalkeeper Peyton Mooney (3-4) enjoyed another impressive day defending the BC goal, recording 14 saves while picking up five ground balls.
Methodist's Bryce Kephart and AJ Mejia each tallied two-goal performances to lead the Monarchs.
In total, the Tornados outshot the Monarchs, 44-35, with a 33-21 advantage on shots-on-goal. The Monarchs committed nine more turnovers than the Tornados (33-24). BC took advantage of its lone man-up chance, finishing the afternoon 1-for-1 in man-up situations.
Methodist took its only lead of the contest, 1-0, after Mejia scored just 52 seconds into the contest. However, this lead was short lived as the Tornados closed the first quarter by scoring six unanswered goals to take a commanding 6-1 lead into the next period.
Brevard outscored Methodist 4-3 in the second quarter, as a key man-up goal by McKaig helped BC carry a 10-4 lead into the halftime break.
The Tornados opened up the second half with five straight goals to push its lead up to 15-4. A lone Monarch goal to close the period left the score in favor of Brevard, 15-5, heading into the final stanza.
Methodist scored twice within the first three minutes to cut BC's lead to eight, but the Tornados shut the door on any late rally with two goals of their own to claim the 17-7 triumph.
Brevard will return to action next weekend as it travels to William Peace University(3-4, 0-1 USAS) next Saturday, March 23 at 1 p.m. in Cary, N.C.
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