BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C.— Montreat's men's lacrosse team hosted the (RV) Point University Skyhawks in an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) matchup Tuesday afternoon. Needing a win to boost their hopes of making the AAC Tournament later this month, the Cavaliers ultimately lost a hard-fought competition by a score of 14-9.
 
In the first quarter, the Skyhawks (6-5, 2-3 AAC) jumped in front with a goal early in the frame. To answer, Montreat netted three consecutive goals to take the lead, 3-1. Justin Holland scored the first goal for the Cavs. Eli King scored next, and it was assisted by Landon LaGro. D'Andrae McKenzie scored the last of the frame for Montreat. His effort was unassisted.
 
Montreat (0-11, 0-6 AAC) continued the hot shooting and scored two early goals in the next period. Holland scored both goals unassisted, securing his hat trick in the first half. Point did score three to answer, however. Before the half expired, Jaden Devane scored his first goal as a Cavalier to push the Montreat advantage to 6-4.
 
Coming out of halftime, both teams added a goal to their scores right away in the half. Holland scored his fourth unassisted goal of the game. From there, the Skyhawks went on a 9-0 scoring run, which included parts of the fourth quarter. In the fourth, LaGro assisted twice to end the match. The first was to King, and the second was to Gavin Mottram. At the end of the conference battle, Montreat fell, 14-9.
 
Individually, Holland led the team with four goals. King followed with two. Behind them, a trio of Mottram, Devane and McKenzie each scored one. The only player to assist any goals was LaGro, and he did so three times. Holland also had the most shots and shots on goal with 15 and 12, respectively. LaGro had seven shots, and King had five. Carlos Montoya had the most ground balls with eight. Following him was Devane with six, and both Mottram and King had four. Ty Goodson and Aidan Simpson tied for the most caused turnovers. They both had two in the statistical category. Between the sticks, Jay Chance had 11 saves on the day.
 
Collectively, Montreat had more shots (46-38), shots on goal (28-25) and ground balls (41-32) than Point. The Cavs also had fewer turnovers than the visitors (20-17). Point won one extra faceoff than the Cavaliers (14-13) and had more saves in the matchup (19-11). Point converted 18 of its 25 clear attempts, while Montreat went 11-for-13 in the category.
 
Montreat's next game will be another home AAC match against the (RV) Tennessee Wesleyan University Bulldogs. The contest will be held this weekend on Saturday, April 5. The opening faceoff will start at 1 p.m. at Pulliam Stadium.