LEXINGTON, Ky.— Playing the Mt. Vernon Nazarene University Cougars in a neutral-site contest, the Montreat men's lacrosse team traveled to Lexington, Ky. for its competition Saturday afternoon. Though the game was tied in the fourth quarter, the Cougars bested the Cavaliers by a score of 9-6, dropping Montreat to 1-3 on the season.
 
MVNU (3-0) controlled the opening frame, scoring a trio of goals to go up 3-0 through 15 minutes of play. Connor Walsh then registered a pair of tallies to cut the deficit to a single goal, but Mt. Vernon Nazarene answered 33 seconds later to establish a 2-goal edge (4-2). Eli King went on to notch his seventh goal of the year as the Cavs trimmed the gap to 4-3 at halftime.
 
The Cougars alternated scores with Grayson Scott in the third quarter as both squads recorded two goals in the period. MVNU netted the first before Scott responded with 4:02 left in the frame. After the Cougars registered another six seconds later, Scott scored with 1:54 remaining in the quarter to send Montreat into the fourth down one (6-5).
 
King then leveled the competition with 8:50 on the clock; however, Mt. Vernon Nazarene recorded another three unanswered to seal the matchup in its favor. King and Ernie Del Sol both scooped up three ground balls, while Josh Espinosa added 11 saves in net for the Cavs.
 
Overall, MVNU outshot Montreat 42-31, won 12 of 19 faceoffs and collected 33 ground balls to the Cavaliers' 11. The Cavs forced more turnovers (11-7) in the game.
 
Men's lacrosse now returns to Pulliam Stadium for a matchup with the Lees McRae College Bobcats on Wednesday at 6 p.m.