NEED TO KNOW:
Score: Piedmont 18, Southern Va. 13
Records: Piedmont, 14-2; Southern Va., 8-11

MISENHEIMER, N.C. - Piedmont men's lacrosse survived an early battle and pulled away in the second half to defeat Southern Virginia in the USA South Tournament Semifinals on Thursday night in Misenheimer, North Carolina.

The win advances Piedmont to the USA South Tournament Final for the first time since 2021. The Lions will be looking to capture their first USA South Tournament Title since 2019.

Standout Brady McGuire was excellent as usual on Thursday, leading the Lions with five goals while adding two assists. Fellow senior Connor Rogers added a hat trick as well, scoring a season-best three goals. Freshman Nick Winter also contributed a season-high three goals, netting his first career hat trick.

Goalie Johnny Matrona added 20 saves to help slow the Knights offensive attack.

Unlike the regular season matchup between the teams that saw the Lions race out to a big early lead, this time Southern Virginia was up to task early on. The Knights even grabbed an early 4-2 lead midway through the opening period. 

However, the Lions responded with a 6-1 scoring run in the second quarter that was highlighted by a pair of goals from McGuire. 

Less than two minutes into the second half, the Knights knotted the score at 8-8. But they never were able to take hold of the lead again, as the Lions answered back by scoring five straight to end the third quarter and held Southern Virginia off the scoreboard for the remainder of the period.

Piedmont scored three more times early in the final period to put the game away and move the scoring run to 8-0. Although the Knights were able to score five times down the stretch, the Piedmont lead was too large as the clock turned to zero.

Up next, the Lions will play for a USA South Championship on Saturday, May 4 at 12 p.m. against Pfeiffer.

TURNING POINT:
- Piedmont used an 8-0 scoring run to erase a tie game that overlapped the third and fourth quarters to put the game away.

STANDOUT PERFORMANCES:
- McGuire delivered a five-goal, two-assist performance in the win.
- Both Connor Rogers and Nick Winter each scored a season-high three goals.
- Isaac Harrington delivered a season-high three assists.
- Matrona delivered his third 20+ save performance of the season.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- The Knights held a 61-43 shots advantage.
- However, Matrona made 20 saves and had a save percentage over 60% while the Southern Va. goalie made just seven saves with a .280 save percentage.

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 X: @PiedmontLions, Instagram: @PiedmontLions, and Facebook.