Saints upend Pfieffer

Limestone's Brock Spilker battles a Pfeiffer defender for the loose ball during third quarter action at Saints Field on Saturday. The Saints open conference tournament play on Tuesday. Ledger photo by LARRY HILLIARD Limestone men's lacrosse coach Chris Hasbrouck assessed his team's performance in a matter-of-fact manner.

"We did what we had to do," said Hasbrouck after his team's 11-3 win over visiting Pfeiffer on Senior Day. "If a team is going to be willing to play a zone to keep the score respectable, we'll do what we have to do to take the win."

The win elevates the Saints (7-2) into a fiveway tie for the Deep South Conference title. In the tie-breaker, the Saints earned the No. 4 seed and will host Mars Hill on Tuesday at 4 p.m. St. Andrews is the tournament's No. 1 seed.

Limestone has made six straight trips to the Division II national championship game.

The Saints dominated from the outset. Brad Patridge, one of the team's eight seniors to be honored in a pre-game ceremony, put the Saints up 2-0. Harley Beekman increased the advantage to 3-0 on the opening face-off of the second quarter.

The teams traded goals to give the Saints a 41 lead at halftime.

Beekman and Ryan Verrilli scored to open the third quarter. Patridge then had back-to-back goals to push the lead to 7-1.

Brock Spilker added a goal to make it a ninegoal bulge before the Falcons' Eddie Gourley scored to make it 10-2 at the end of the third quarter.

The Saints' scored the only fourth-quarter goal.

Hasbrouck said the Saints still aren't seizing on their scoring opportunities.

"We need to be more efficient against the zone," he said. "We are getting shots, we just aren't finishing."

Spilker and Pat Beall each had two assists for the Saints.