MISENHEIMER — With the 2021 USA South Athletic Conference men’s lacrosse tournament set to begin this weekend, the Pfeiffer Falcons (10-1, 8-0) locked up a top seed in the East Division after finishing conference play undefeated.
The Falcons will host second-seeded Greensboro (10-2, 6-2) on Saturday at 1 p.m. for the first round of divisional playoff action. In the West Division, No. 1 Piedmont (5-4, 5-0) will host No. 2 Huntingdon (5-5, 3-2) on Friday at 7 p.m. The winners of the two games will meet for the championship on May 8.
Pfeiffer is coming off its final game of the regular season this past Saturday — a 24-11 home victory over William Peace (4-10, 2-6) that set a new school record for consecutive wins with nine in a row.
After initially trailing the Pacers 3-2, the Falcons responded with 12 unanswered goals to not only take back the lead but run away with it; Pfeiffer held an 18-5 edge at halftime and added six more goals in the second half.
Falcons senior John Allen led Pfeiffer with a record-breaking performance, setting a USA South single-game mark with nine goals. His efforts earned him conference Player of the Week honors.
Sophomore Quinn Becraft added six goals in the win.
The Falcons scored more than 20 goals in six of their 11 games during the regular season. The 13-goal win over William Peace boosted Pfeiffer’s goal differential to 231-99 on the year.
Pfeiffer’s last loss came Feb. 24 when Southern Virginia (6-8, 2-1 Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference) claimed a 22-19 home win over the Falcons in a nonconference game.
Saturday’s matchup between the Falcons and the Greensboro Pride will mark the third meeting between the two squads this season. Their first contest on March 12 kicked off the beginning of conference play for both schools after each opened the season with four nonconference opponents. Pfeiffer came away with a 16-12 road win over the Pride.
The two teams next met up in Misenheimer on April 14, and the Falcons recorded an 18-8 victory. The two Pfeiffer wins were the only losses for the Pride during the regular season. Since that second matchup, Greensboro has outscored its three opponents by a 43-24 margin.