SUWANEE, Ga. - The inaugural SCAC men's lacrosse tournament field is set as Colorado College, Birmingham-Southern, Sewanee and Southwestern will compete for the 2011 SCAC men's lacrosse championship. Birmingham-Southern and Sewanee play on April 19 to determine the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds.
AROUND THE SCAC
Birmingham-Southern
went on the road this week and defeated Centre, 20-3. BSC was also
originally scheduled to face Sewanee on Friday, but the game was
postponed due to severe weather moving into the area. Sophomore
Matt Ivie led with six goals against the Colonels, and senior Ben
Schaefer led with six ground balls. Sophomore goalkeeper Andrew
Huffman also recorded six saves. BSC will make up the game against
Sewanee this Tuesday before heading to Colorado College for the
conference championship this weekend.
Centre competed in its final home game of the
season on Sunday, April 17 against conference opponent
Birmingham-Southern. Centre played hard, but they were unable to
come away with the win as they were beaten 20-3. Prior to the game
starting two seniors were honored for their efforts during the
Colonels inaugural season. The Colonels will take part in their
final game of the season on Tuesday, May 3 against Oberlin College
at 4:30 p.m. in Oberlin, Ohio.
Colorado College completed a
perfect Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference regular season with
a 24-3 victory over Hendrix. Freshman attackman Jake Smith struck
for a season-high six goals and set up two other scores to help the
Tigers remain perfect. Carson Christman found the net four times,
the first of which proved to be his second game winner of the
season. He assisted on four tallies, including three by Smith, en
route to an eight-point night. Moses Taylor scored four times,
while Bart Cerf and Charles Curtis notched a pair. Buck McKenna won
19 of 22 draws and grabbed a game-high 11 ground balls, while Chris
Kolodey caused four turnovers and picked up four ground balls. Zach
Steedman had to make just one save for the Tigers. CC eclipsed the
20-goal mark for the fifth time in seven conference games and
outscored its opponents 134-17 during those contests. Colorado
College did not allow more than five goals in an SCAC game this
season. As a team, the Tigers lead the nation in scoring defense
(3.80 goals per game), man-down defense (.938), scoring margin
(12.78) and assists per game (11.70). Steedman leads the nation
with a 3.90 goals-against average and is ninth with a .648 saves
percentage. Carson Christman is third in assists (3.10) and fourth
in points per game (6.0), while McKenna is fourth in face-off
percentage (.768). Colorado College faces Southwestern in the first
semifinal of the SCAC Tournament on Friday at Washburn
Field.
Hendrix saw its 2011 season come to a halt after
dropping two games this week. The Warriors traveled to Colorado
College for a 24-3 loss on Friday evening and then lost a
heart-breaker at Southwestern on Sunday. Hendrix squared off
against Southwestern in a must-win situation and the Pirates came
away with a 9-8 double-overtime victory. Hendrix and Southwestern
came into Sunday’s affair tied at 3-3 in league play as the
two teams were playing in a rubber match that would decide the
inaugural SCAC Tournament’s No. 4 seed. Southwestern earned
the rite to travel to Colorado Spring, Colo. when sophomore Edward
Williams scored the game-winning goal off an assist from first year
Alex Michael with 2:40 left in the second overtime. Williams
finished with a team-high four goals, while Tyler Downing and
Carter Cowan added two goals apiece. Hendrix senior Clayton
Cersonsky and sophomore David Davis, Jr. led the team with three
goals apiece, while junior Ben Nelson scored two fourth-quarter
goals to send the game into extra minutes. The Warriors finish
their 2011 season with a 5-7 overall record after going 0-36 in the
program’s first three seasons.
Millsaps did not play last week.
Oglethorpe picked up its third victory of its
inaugural season by topping Dallas on Salamone Field on Sunday
afternoon, 9-7. In a tight contest where neither team opened up
more than a 3-goal advantage, the Petrels netted the first three
goals of the fourth quarter to clear a path to victory. The Petrels
jumped out front 2-0 in the first on consecutive strikes from
Dustin Carnahan, the second on a nice assist from Michael Kasmarik.
After the Crusaders notched their first tally, Arness Holsey fed
Maseo Brown for a goal that gave Oglethorpe a 3-1 advantage that
the Petrels would take to halftime. Dallas began the second half by
notching the first three goals to take their first lead at 4-3 at
the 8:02 mark of the third quarter. Kasmarik evened the score at
four apiece on a wicked shot past the Dallas keeper but the
Crusaders forged ahead 5-4 before an Oglethorpe own-goal with 3:34
left in the period. Moments later, Kasmarik tied the score again
after taking a pass from behind the net from Carnahan and rifling
it past the Crusader keeper. Tied 5-5, the Petrels took the game by
the throat to start the fourth quarter and lift the squad to
victory. Price Hamilton scored his first career goal just 14
seconds into the quarter when he scooped up a ground ball and
raced 35 yards up field, weaving past defenders before
slamming home the go-ahead goal. John Brewer made 19 saves in goal
for Oglethorpe while the Petrels converted an impressive 20 of 26
clearance attempts in the win. The Petrels are now 3-9 on the year
and will close out the season versus Hanover on April 27 on
Salamone Field at 3:30 p.m.
Sewanee’s only game of the week, scheduled
for Friday, April 15 against Birmingham-Southern was postponed due
to inclement weather. The Tigers will now face the Panthers at 6
p.m. on Tuesday, April 19 in their final game before the SCAC
Championships. The Tigers sit at 6-6 overall and 5-1 in SCAC play.
In a game that was reminiscent of last year's season closing
match-up between Southwestern and Hendrix, the
Pirates won 9-8 in double overtime after a thrilling, well-played
contest by both teams. With a packed hillside the teams battled
back and forth. Southwestern took a quick 5-1 lead but the Warriors
battled back to tie the game late. After the scoreless first
overtime period Hendrix had the first shot at the game winner, but
goalie Chris O'Quain made a fantastic save on Ben Nelson's shot.
Southwestern set up their attempt with a time out and Alex Michael
found Ed Williams streaking through the middle and Williams shot a
laser into the back of the net for the game winner. The win
improves SU to 7-8 on the year and 4-3 in the SCAC, earning them
the final spot in the conference's first ever post-season
tournament to be held this coming weekend in Colorado Springs,
Colo.
For the complete SCAC Men's Lax Weekly for Week 8,
click here.