NEED TO KNOW:
Score: Piedmont 14, William Peace 8
Records: Piedmont, 6-4 (2-0 USA South); William Peace, 3-4 (0-2 USA South)

RALEIGH, N.C. - The Piedmont men's lacrosse team improved to 2-0 in USA South play, taking to the road to down William Peace, 14-8, on Friday afternoon in North Carolina.

Playing their first road game in over a month, the Lions were better than the Pacers in every quarter, eventually pulling away for a comfortable win late.

Senior MICHAEL ANDERSON continued his hot run of goal scoring, tying his season high with four goals while adding a pair of assists. Freshman WILL ISLEY and sophomore JADON MORINI each pitched in a pair of goals while BRADY MCGUIRE paced the squad with three assists. 

Faceoff specialist CHRIS PANNENBACKER did his part in helping the Lions gain a possession advantage, as the senior won 14-of-22 faceoffs on the afternoon.

After CONNOR ROGERS opened the scoring early in the first quarter to put the Lions out front early, the Pacers immediately answered to tie the score at 1-1. However, when Anderson notched his first of the evening less than a minute later, Piedmont led the rest of the way from there.

Anderson's goal sparked a 4-0 scoring run for Piedmont in the first quarter before the Pacers scored on a man-up opportunity to break the drought.

The second quarter saw William Peace score back-to-back goals with a man advantage to cut its deficit to 6-4, but the Lions defense tightened, holding the Pacers scoreless for the final 8:25 of the first half while adding two goals to take an 8-4 lead into the break.

While WPU scored the opening two goals of the second half to once again cut the Piedmont lead to two goals, the Lions responded again to jump back ahead by four and eventually took a 12-7 edge to the final quarter.

Piedmont's defense held steady, allowing just one fourth quarter goal while Anderson put an exclamation point on the win with his fourth and final goal coming in the final minutes.

Up next, the Lions will have over a week off from game action, returning to play on Wednesday, April 5 at home against Brevard.

TURNING POINT:
- The Pacers scored the first two goals out of halftime to cut the Piedmont lead to 8-6. However, the Lions answered with a 3-0 scoring run to halt the rally in its tracks.

STANDOUT PERFORMANCES:
- Anderson has now tallied four consecutive hat tricks, reaching four goals in two of those games, both wins for the Lions.
- CHRIS PANNENBACKER won 14-of-22 faceoffs and led the Lions with eight ground balls.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- The Lions held a 46-30 advantage in ground balls and led the shot count 44-29.

HOW TO FOLLOW:
- To stay up to date on all information regarding Piedmont University Athletics, be sure to visit PiedmontLions.com and connect with the Green and Gold on social media. Follow the Lions on Twitter: @PiedmontLions, Instagram: @PiedmontLions, and Facebook. To follow each Piedmont athletic program on social media, use the Social Media Directory at PiedmontLions.com or click here.