Box Score HUNTSVILLE, Ala. --- The Falcons rule Peach Belt Conference men's lacrosse for the second consecutive season after beating Alabama Huntsville 15-9 in the tournament championship game on Sunday afternoon. With the win, the Falcons finish the season at 11-7 and earned the pleasure of hoisting the trophy high in the Rocket City sky.

"I'm extremely proud of the effort and dedication of all of our players. especially all of our seniors," said UM head men's lacrosse coach Jason Lange. "I could not be prouder of this group. We faced a lot of adversity this season and found a way to get the job done."

Get it done they did! At one point this season, the Falcons sat at 5-7 after a heart-wrenching 14-13 home loss to UAH. However, they would reel off three straight wins to finish the regular season and earn the No. 3 seed in the tournament which came with a first round home game. After blasting Shorter 24-5 in the opening round, the Falcons upset No. 2 seed Lander University 12-8 to grab a seat at the championship finals table.

On Sunday at Charger Park, the Falcons were dominant trailing only once all game. UAH scored the first goal to take the early lead. Reid Vender scored, with 13:!5 left in the first period. But, the Falcons scored three unanswered goals to take a 3-1 lead. PBC Player of the Year, Thomas Vaesen tied the game scoring off of an assist from Scott Friant with 10:30 left in the first period. Then, Kordell Primus and Anthony Pecoraro scored goals 11 seconds apart to take a 3-1 lead and the Falcons never looked back. Primus' goal came at 6:03 with an assist from Jackson Neufeld, and Pecoraro scored unassisted at 5:52. 

The two teams exchanged goals before the end of the period, making the score 4-2 heading into the second period. Neufeld netted the goal for UM, with an assist from Trevayne Hunter, while Brody Phillips had the goal for the Chargers.

The Falcons extended their lead with three straight goals in the second period. Neufeld found the back of the net for the second time, scoring an unassisted goal just 43 seconds into the second period. Less than two minutes later, Chaiton Williams ripped a shot passed the Charger keeper to give the Falcons a 6-2 lead. Hunter assisted Jack Morris for the third goal with 9:49 left in the half to make it 7-2. 

UAH got a goal from Jake LeVette with 4:37 left to cut the UM lead to 7-3, but the Falcons answered with under a minute left at another goal by Primus. His goal with 49 seconds left gave the Falcons an 8-3 lead at halftime.

The third period saw the most scoring in the game between the two teams as they combined for eight goals. Once again, the Falcons outscored the Chargers with five goals to three. Neufeld, Primus and Morris each added to their totals for the game, while Hunter and Jackson Klewchuk notched their first goals. Hunter also had his third assist and Vaesen assisted on Hunter's goal.

Primus scored his third goal in the fourth period to put the Falcons up 14-6. The Chargers would outscore the Falcons for the first time in the game in the final period, 3-2. However, the were comfortably ahead. Connor Frederick capped off the UM scoring for 2022 with an unassisted goal with just under two minutes left.

Primus led the Falcons with four goals. Neufeld added three goals and an assist, while Morris had a pair of goals. Hunter also tallied four points with a goal and three assists. Kyle Little stopped 15 shots in goal for UM. He stood tall against 55 shots from the Chargers.

Vender led UAH with two goals, while Jake Schramm finished with three assists. Zak Welsh made 13 saves in goal for the Chargers.

Four Falcons, Primus, Neufeld, Little and Gerry York, earned spots on the All-Tournament team, while Friant was named tournament Most Valuable Player.

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