Hawks beat Ferrum in USA South opener

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Huntingdon men's lacrosse team opened conference play with a 9-7 win over Ferrum College on Saturday.

Leading 6-5 early in the second half, the Hawks used goals from Jackson Schrampfer, Kendrick Ballard and Adrian Harper to pull ahead to a 9-6 lead. Ferrum added a final goal late but the Hawks closed out the game and pushed their winning streak to six games.

The six-game winning streak and the 6-0 start are both program records for the seventh-year Hawks.

Huntingdon dominated the first quarter of Saturday's game, building a 5-1 lead in the first nine minutes. Ferrum answered and made it 6-4 at halftime and 6-5 in the first five minutes of the second half.

Back-to-back goals by Schrampfer and Ballard in a span of less than a minute pushed Huntingdon's lead back to three goals midway through the third quarter. The Hawks maintained at least a two-goal lead for the remainder of the game.

Harper and Ballard each finished with two goals and Schrampfer, Bryce Coates, Mac Puller, Sam Hitt and Austen Saucier each scored one goal. Hitt was 14-for-19 on faceoffs and finished with 11 ground balls. Zach Barnhill had one assist.

Goalie Matt Murphy finished the game with seven saves and seven goals allowed.

Records: Huntingdon (6-0, 1-0 USA South); Ferrum (2-5, 1-1 USA South)

Quick Facts: Saturday's win was the Hawks' first over Ferrum at Samford Stadium and the second overall in the eight-game history of the series. The Panthers won the first five meetings and Huntingdon has won two of the past three meetings.

Coming Up: Huntingdon plays at Birmingham-Southern on Wednesday at 6 p.m.