HUNTSVILLE | The University of Alabama in Huntsville men's lacrosse team punctuated a perfect regular season of Peach Belt Conference action on Saturday afternoon, winning an 11-9 thriller over visiting Lander to capture the regular season PBC title while also locking in the top seed and hosting rights for the upcoming PBC tournament. UAH improves to 9-6 (5-0 PBC), while Lander slips to 11-5 (4-1 PBC).
 
The quarterfinals of the tournament will be held on Tuesday at campus sites, and the Chargers and Lander will be awaiting the winners of those two games for Friday semifinals as the top two teams in the league earn byes in the event. 
 
UAH will face the winner of No. 4 seed Flagler and No. 5 seed Young Harris on Friday, May 6, at 7 p.m. at Charger Park.
 
The Chargers found themselves trailing by a goal heading into the fourth quarter, and while Lander would go up by a pair after scoring 18 seconds into the final period, a man-up goal from Conor Young at the 13:18 mark followed by a Will Ford strike with 11:00 left in the contest tied the game at 8-8.
 
Ryan Craig briefly put the Chargers in front at 9-8 with 6:23 remaining, but the Bearcats then tied the contest back up less than a minute later.
 
UAH did not flinch, however, and on a day on which he was honored with his eight other fellow seniors, Reid Vender scored at the 4:27 mark to put his team in front, and he iced the contest with his third of the game with 1:33 left on the clock.
 
Zak Welsh then made his final of eight saves he recorded in the contest in the final minute, and the Chargers were then able to run the clock down which set off a raucous celebration as the Blue and White earned the program's first regular season crown while also setting the program record for wins in a season with the nine victories.
 
Vender and Young led the Chargers in scoring on the afternoon with both scoring three times.
 
Kyle Light scored twice, and his two-point showing was matched by Will Ford who scored a goal and added an assist. Brayden O'Neill matched Craig with a goal, and Jacob Thomas handed out an assist.
 
In ground balls, Hunter Coleman – who also won 12 faceoffs – and Collin Galinski led the way with five, and Galinski also caused a team-best five turnovers – just one off the UAH single-game record – including one in the fourth quarter that led to the game-tying goal by Ford.