GREENVILLE, S.C. – Hoping for a win in the final conference road game of the regular season, the Virginia Military Institute lacrosse team fell to host Furman University by a 13-5 score Saturday afternoon at Paladin Stadium in Greenville, South Carolina.

Despite leading the Paladins 3-2 after the first quarter, the Keydets would score just two more goals the rest of the way as Furman scored six in the second period and five in the second half to secure the win.

"We challenged our young group to manage the opening quarter better and I felt they did a great job," said VMI head coach Brian Anken. "Unfortunately, we just couldn't counter a Furman run of goals in the second quarter. Our defense really settled in during the third quarter. Despite developing some good shots, their goalie made some big saves in the second half."

The teams were comparatively equal in most categories as VMI had 37 shots to Furman's 44 with the Keydets winning the groundball battle by a 34-29 margin. The Keydets had 17 turnovers to the Paladins' 18 and won 11 faceoffs to Furman's 10. The contest for successful clears also proved to be tight with VMI clearing 17 possessions to Furman's 21.

Furman's Kenny Meinsen scored his first of five goals throughout the game midway through the first quarter before Keydets Brad Biondello, Wesley Sanders and Tom Nofi scored three goals in a two-minute span to give VMI some momentum heading into the second period.

A goal by VMI's Dan Bull gave the Keydets a 4-2 advantage early in the second quarter, but the Paladins responded with six unanswered goals through the majority of the period to provide Furman an insurmountable lead. VMI's Ty Trobridge would score with 26 seconds before intermission, but the damage had been done as Furman put up five unanswered goals in the second half en route to the victory.

In addition to one goal, Nofi led the Keydet attack with two assists to his credit for a team-high three points on the afternoon. Sanders put up eight shot attempts, while senior Tyler Prasnicki hustled to a team-best eight groundballs and five caused turnovers during the game.

Playing a complete game in the net, Keydet senior goalie Evan Windisch logged eight saves while Furman's Reilly McDermott earned the win with 13 saves.