BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C.— Montreat's men's lacrosse team hosted the No. 5 Reinhardt University Eagles for an afternoon Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) matchup. The Cavaliers (0-8, 0-3 AAC) couldn't get their first win of the season after facing another ranked opponent in their 23-7 defeat on Saturday.
 
In the opening period, Reinhardt (6-1, 3-1 AAC) got on the scoreboard first with six unanswered goals. Montreat won just two faceoffs in the quarter. Despite all the offensive power from the Eagles, Montreat goalie Jay Chance had three saves in net.
 
The Cavs scored two goals in the second quarter, and both were assisted by Gavin Mottram. Conrad Stelzel scored the first, and D'Andrae McKenzie scored the second with just 10 seconds remaining in the half. At the break, Montreat had seven shots, four on target, as it trailed 11-2.
 
To start the second half, Montreat came out with some fire, outscoring the Eagles 3-2 in the first part of the third quarter. McKenzie netted the second two goals of a hat trick, and Yasiel Sihombing scored his fourth goal of the season. Landon LaGro assisted McKenzie's second goal, his sixth helper of the year.
 
The Cavalier scoring run lit a match under the Eagles as they put five consecutive goals past Chance throughout the rest of the third and into the fourth quarter. Montreat did score twice in the last frame, however. Carlos Montoya scored for Montreat after he was shoved in the back. Before he hit the ground, he flipped the ball over his shoulder, and it found its way into the net after a bounce. LaGro scored the seventh and final goal for Montreat. Mottram secured his third assist of the game with LaGro's goal effort.
 
Besides McKenzie's three-goal performance, no other Cavalier had more than one. LaGro tied McKenzie with the most shots on goal with three. Defensively, three Montreat players had two caused turnovers. Eric Huffman, Savion Whitney and Nik Treadway all worked together to rack up the statistics. Montoya led the Cavs with eight ground balls. McKenzie, Mottram and Aidan Simpson followed closely with five each. Chance ended his day with nine saves.
 
As a team, Montreat tallied 17 shots with 11 on target. The Cavs had 10 more turnovers (29-19) and 10 fewer ground balls than the Eagles (50-40). Montreat went 22-for-26 converting clear attempts, while Reinhardt nailed all 24 of their attempts to clear the ball. At the end of 60 minutes of play, the Eagles also won more faceoffs than Montreat (23-11).
 
Up next, the Cavaliers will take on the (RV) Life University Running Eagles for a road AAC battle in Marietta, Ga. The opening faceoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.