The Roanoke men’s lacrosse team, ranked 12th in Division III, led 14-2 at halftime en route to handing Muhlenberg its first loss of the season, 21-8.

The Mules (1-1) scored five of the final six goals of the game to make the final closer.

Sophomore Dave Armstrong recorded his fifth career hat trick, and his second of the season, with three goals.

Freshmen Steven Toto and Christian Messler led Muhlenberg with seven and six ground balls, respectively.

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The Monarchs (2-1) kept the ball in the Muhlenberg end for a large chunk of the first 20

Diana Bleakley made eight saves to increase her career total to 395, one short of second place on the Mules’ all-time list.

minutes. The Mules’ aggressive stick-checking prevented Methodist from getting many clean shots on goal, however. After tying the score at 2-2 at the 11:21 mark, Methodist did not get another goal until the second half, by which time Muhlenberg had opened up a commanding 9-2 lead.

Donohue converted one of Elizabeth Alexander’s career-high four assists for the go-ahead goal at 18:16. The Mules then began to play better all-around, widening their lead by scoring four goals in a span of 2:41 late in the first half.

Muhlenberg scored the first two goals of the second half, and after Methodist broke its drought, Alexander controlled the ensuing draw and fed sophomore Courtney Tapkas for an answer goal just 11 seconds later. The Mules led by as many as nine goals and breezed to the win on a breezy Florida day.

Tapkas finished with three goals for her 14th career hat trick, while freshman Katie Reimann notched her first with three goals to go along with two assists.

Senior Candice Coffman led the defense with six caused turnovers and added three draw controls and her first career assist.

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