MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Averett University men's lacrosse team dropped their conference opener at Huntingdon College on Saturday, 13-0. Sophomore Jacob Shriver made a season-high 24 saves in net.
 
The two sides played a tightly contested first quarter of play as there was only one goal scored.  Brayden Puckett tallied a goal in the fourth minute of play for Huntingdon (4-4, 1-0 USA South), but besides that the Hawks were denied on every other opportunity. Shriver made nine of his 24 saves during the opening frame to keep the Averett (0-4, 0-1 USA South) deficit to one heading into the second quarter.
 
However, the Hawks would break through a little more offensively in the second quarter. During the 18th minute, Huntingdon scored two goals to extend their lead to 3-0. From there, though, they would not score until the last couple minutes of the first half. With 1:15 left in the half, Bryce Coates extended the Hawks lead to four before Austen Saucier scored with one second remaining to give Huntingdon the 5-0 lead during the break in action.
 
Huntingdon would pull away in the third quarter as the Hawks registered five goals while keeping the Cougars off the scoreboard to take a commanding 10-0 lead. In the fourth quarter, the Cougars would tighten up defensively as they held Huntingdon to just eight shots. Unfortunately, Huntingdon would match the defensive intensity of Averett in the final frame while earning three more goals to win the match, 13-0.
 
Along with making 24 saves, Shriver also tacked on five ground balls to lead Averett.
 
The Cougars return home on Tuesday to play Ferrum College in a rescheduled game from earlier in the season. Game time is set for 4 p.m.