TIGERVILLE, S.C. – The Lander men's lacrosse team tasted defeat for the first time this season as they fell in a close contest to North Greenville 15-14 on Saturday.

Lander drops to 5-1 while North Greenville moves to 4-2 overall.

Adam Mather led the way with four goals against the Crusaders. Noah Longest, Carter Wilcox and Drew Wilson all were tied with two goals each. Mather and Tyler Kralj were tied with two assists while Mather was the team leader in points with six. Five Bearcats caused a turnover while Jake Watson and Nolan Oakey were tied with four ground balls each.

North Greenville scored the game's first two goals before Mather fired home his first of the game with 7:06 in the first. The Crusaders would respond with a goal of their own to move up 3-1 before Drew Wilson scored with 5:18 to bring the Crusaders' lead to just one goal.

North Greenville would come out of the gates screaming in the second quarter, with the Crusaders scoring three unanswered goals before Krew Conroy and Wilson scored back-to-back goals to make it a 6-4 contest. A Crusader goal would put the home squad back up by three goals before Lander would catch fire and score five uninterrupted goals to close the half out. Wilcox, Longest, Sean Reily, Chance Hainey and Mather all netted goals to put Lander up 9-7 at the half.

The Crusaders would outscore Lander 4-1 in the third quarter, with Mather scoring at 12:20. Lander would trail 11-10 after three quarters.

North Greenville would be the first to score in the fourth, with the first three goals of the final frame being scored by the Crusaders. Down 14-10, The Bearcats dug in and got the game evened up after Mather, Longest, Kraji and Wilcox scored four consecutive goals to make it a 14-14 game with 2:56 remaining. North Greenville would score the final goal with 1:25 remaining and would hold on to the lead.

Lander is back home on March 8 as it welcomes Maryville to Van Taylor Stadium for a 1 pm start.

#cLawsUp | @LanderMLAX