DECATUR, Ala. — The No. 4 SCAD men's lacrosse team saw its historic 2026 season come to a close on Thursday night as the Bees fell 18-15 to No. 2 Keiser University in the NAIA National Championship Semifinals at the Jack Allen Complex.
RECORDS: The Bees finish the season with a 15-5 overall record. The Seahawks improve to 15-0.
DID YOU KNOW? With 15 goals, SCAD ties the most goals Keiser has allowed all season.
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Seahawks got on the board early with a goal at the 12:49 mark in the first quarter, but SCAD tied it 45 seconds later with a goal from
Travis Cheristin. Unfortunately, Keiser scored three more goals, before
Jonathan O'Bryant Graves found the back of the net, making it a 4-2 game in favor of the Seahawks. Keiser scored the last goal of the quarter with 2:14 on the clock to take a 5-2 lead into the second quarter.
In a tightly contested second quarter, both teams traded three goals apiece.
Mason Hickman,
Sebastian Manuel and
Eli Phillips, each scored for the Bees to keep the deficit at three, sending the game into halftime with Keiser leading 8-5.
The offensive pace quickened in the third quarter as the teams combined for 10 goals. Despite a balanced SCAD attack featuring goals from Cheristin, Manuel, Hickman, and O'Bryant Graves, the Seahawks outscored the Bees 6-4 in the period to extend their advantage to 14-9 heading into the final 15 minutes.
Refusing to go quietly, SCAD staged a furious fourth-quarter rally, outscoring Keiser 6-4 in the final frame. Cheristin and Manuel ignited the comeback with back-to-back goals at the 13:56 and 12:13 marks, followed by strikes from Manuel and three more from Hickman to bring the game to 16-14 in favor of Keiser. Unfortunately, Keiser scored two more goals before
Noah Moreland added the last goal of the game with less than a minute remaining, but it would not be enough as the Seahawks held on to the 18-15 win.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: Mason Hickman anchored the attack with a game-high seven points, totaling five goals and two assists.
Sebastian Manuel was equally effective, finishing with three goals and three assists.
Travis Cheristin recorded a hat trick with three goals, while
Jonathan O'Bryant Graves added two goals to the tally.
Noah Moreland contributed one goal and an assist, Eli Philips scored once, and
Ethan Cline provided one assist.
Defensively,
Keaton Melcher was stellar in the cage, racking up 16 saves to keep the Bees in contention.
Adam Leblanc and
David Nebus led the defensive unit with four ground balls and one caused turnover each. Five other players recorded a caused turnover as well.
WHAT'S NEXT? This concludes the 2026 season for the Bees.
