Demorest, GA – The Piedmont College men's lacrosse team dispatched the visiting Crusaders of the University of Dallas in a 22-3 home decision earlier this afternoon.

Piedmont opened the scoring four minutes into the game through STEVE BLANCHARD after STEVE MIRAGLIA broke out of the defensive half to provide a precision pass for the assist. The Lions would bookend the first period with goals from Blanchard who picked up a hat-trick with 46 seconds reaming in the period to send Piedmont into the second period with a 6-1 advantage.

The Crusaders led off the second period with a score from Matthew Cyr which was answered by Piedmont with five consecutive goals. Cyr would then score his second of the game bringing his season total to 20 goals for the Crusaders in just seven contests after he found the net with four minutes remaining in the second period.

Piedmont then answered back with 3 more goals to end the first half 14-3 scoring eight in the second period alone.  The Lions did not allow another goal after the half scoring eight goals in the remaining periods.

JOSH PARRIS got the start and the win in goal today for the Lions only facing five shots making saves on two of those. The decision was the first of the season for Parris, a sophomore from Grayson, Georgia.  MICK BAKER came in after halftime making one save to shut out the Crusaders in the second half.

After his first period hat-trick, Blanchard went on to score two more goals bringing him to a total of five on the night. This was Blanchard's second game in a row with exactly five goals bringing his season total to 16 goals.

TAYLOR CARTER and NICK GREEN also had hat-tricks on the day. Carter's three brings his season total to 17 to lead the Lions in goal scoring while Green's trio broke double digits for him to bring his season total to 10.

SUMNER GANTZ was dominant on the face off winning 15 of his 17 and collecting 10 ground balls along the way. RYAN PRICE shored up the Piedmont defense with nine ground balls and four caused turnovers.

The senior even made his way across the halfway line to score his first goal of the season on an impressive individual effort.  Earlier, Price picked an assist one of Blanchard's five scores.

Goals from 12 different Lions alongside a strong defensive showing throughout the match helped the Lions to their second home win with a 22-3 victory bringing their record to 3-3 overall.  The 62 shots by the Lions in today's 19-goal victory tied Piedmont's previous program record when the Lions fired off 62 against Alma in the 2012 season.

The 18 assists on the team's 22 goals is a new program record besting the previous high of 14 in the 2012 win over Alma, a 24-2 victory that came in the program's inaugural season.  

The Lions will look to go on their first three-game winning streak of 2015 when facing Transylvania University tomorrow, March 11 at Walker Athletic Complex with a 5:00 pm ET face off time.

Live coverage will be provided by the Mane Event Broadcasting Network with both live stats and a live video stream available to viewers.