MISENHEIMER — The Pfeiffer Falcons men’s lacrosse team won its first USA South Athletic Conference’s East Division title in program history with a 13-11 victory over Greensboro last Saturday.
The Falcons (11-1, 8-0) are now set to return to Lefko Field this Saturday at 1 p.m. to host the Piedmont Lions (6-4, 5-0) for the conference championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
The Lions are coming off a 17-3 victory over Huntingdon (5-6, 3-2) on Friday that earned them the USA South’s West Division Title.
Pfeiffer’s latest win over the Greensboro Pride (10-3, 6-2) was easily the team’s closest game in months, spanning back to its only loss of the year — a Feb. 24 nonconference matchup with Southern Virginia (6-8, 2-1 Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference) that preceded a 10-game winning streak and undefeated record in conference play.
Saturday’s contest was a back-and-forth affair for the majority of the game; both teams went into halftime with five goals on the board.
“This was the third time we played this team and, obviously, they weren’t going to just lay down and roll over — we knew it was going to be a dogfight,” Pfeiffer coach Tucker Nelson said. “Their goalie came out and was phenomenal with 12 saves in the first half. We weren’t shooting great, so that kept them in the game a little more. Once we got up by two or three, we felt pretty confident that we were going to win the game.”
Falcons senior Jared Nelson made history in the second quarter as he set the new NCAA all-time career assists record with 292, blazing past the record of 287 that was set in 1974 by Rick Gilbert of Hobart College.
“That’s a great accomplishment by Jared,” Tucker Nelson said. “He owes a lot of his teammates and coaching staff credit, and he always will give it to them. His ability and willingness to work so hard individually and do the little things is the reason he has become so good.”
In the third quarter, senior Corey Choberka broke a 7-7 tie to give Pfeiffer a slight edge followed by five more Falcons goals the rest of the game. While Greensboro put up four more goals of its own in the fourth quarter, the Pride failed to overcome Pfeiffer’s second-half offense.
Sophomore Quinn Becraft led the Falcons with five goals, while Greensboro sophomore Austin Abourjilie led both teams with seven goals.