SUWANEE, Ga. - Colorado College, Sewanee, and Birmingham-Southern have all earned trips to the inaugural Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference men's lacrosse tournament. One spot remains with one week left in the conference schedule, as Hendrix currently leads Southwestern by a half game for the final tournament spot.
AROUND THE SCAC
Birmingham-Southern
split this week on the road in two conference games, defeating
Southwestern, 20-5, but falling to undefeated Colorado College,
9-5. Junior Jacob McPherson and sophomore Matt Ivie led against
Southwestern with four goals each; against Colorado College,
McPherson and junior D.J. Ward had two goals apiece. BSC wraps up
the regular season this weekend with two road games, taking on
Sewanee, Friday, and Centre, Sunday.
Centre competed in two road conference games this
week. The Colonels traveled to Jackson, Miss. to take on Millsaps
on Friday, April 8 and Centre was able to knock off the Majors
21-3. On Sunday, April 10 Centre took on Hendrix. The Colonels
tried to make a comeback in the fourth quarter, but the run came
too late, as Centre fell 14-9. Centre is 3-8 on the season and 2-4
in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. Next up for the
Colonels will be the team’s final regular season conference
game of their inaugural season against Birmingham-Southern on
Sunday, April 17 at 3 p.m. in Danville, Ky.
Colorado College clinched at
least a share of the regular-season title and the top seed in the
conference tournament with victories against Oglethorpe and
Birmingham-Southern last weekend. In the 28-0 win against the
Stormy Petrels, Zach Steedman and Jeff Moore combined for CC's
first shutout since last season's 27-0 victory over Southwestern.
Steedman stopped three shots during 36:42 between the pipes and saw
his season goals-against average drop to 3.93. Moore, who made his
collegiate debut, steered aside the only shot he faced. Carson
Christman scored four goals and set personal single-game highs with
seven assists and 11 points, all in the first half, as the Tigers
eclipsed the 20-goal mark for the fourth game in a row. In a game
that many thought would be an offensive shootout, the Tigers relied
on their defense to record a 9-5 victory over BSC. The Panthers,
who had averaged 17.38 goals per game during their first 11 games,
became the seventh consecutive opponent that Colorado College held
to five goals or less. The Tigers, who improved to 9-0 for the
first time in program history, play their only game of the week
against Hendrix on Friday night.
Hendrix went 1-1 on the week after a tough loss
against Sewanee on Senior Night Friday and then an overpowering win
against Centre College on Sunday. The Warriors now stand at
5-5 overall and 3-2 in SCAC play, with a 0.5 game lead over
Southwestern (3-3) and a 1.5 game lead over Centre (2-4) in the
SCAC standings. Hendrix needs to win just one of its last two games
to clinch a spot in the SCAC Tournament. Sewanee opened
Friday night’s game with seven unanswered goals and never
looked back as the Tigers outlasted Hendrix 10-6 at Warrior
Field. The Warriors narrowed their deficit on a pair of goals
inside the last five minutes of the third quarter from junior Ben
Nelson. Hendrix scored six goals in the second quarter to
pull away from Centre. The Warriors owned a 7-3 advantage at
the break and then netted four unanswered goals out of the locker
room to own an 11-5 advantage after the third quarter. Centre
outscored Hendrix 4-3 in the last 15 minutes to reach the final
mark. Both teams combined for 18 penalties (11-Centre,
7-Hendrix) in a physical conference match-up.
Millsaps closed out the regular season last
week with a pair of losses at home. Centre took a 21-3 victory from
the Majors on Friday night before Sewanee closed out the season on
Sunday afternoon with a 26-2 win at Harper Davis Field. The Majors
may have been outgunned, but the scoring that they did get was
spread across the roster. Hunter Stevison, Ryan McKay, Brandon
Allison, and Taylor Weaver each had goals in the two games, but
only Weaver had more than one, scoring both goals against the
Tigers.
Oglethorpe lost at Colorado College (L, 28-0) and
at Southwestern (L, 23-3) this past weekend. On Friday, the Tigers
sprinted to a 21-0 halftime lead en route to the easy win. The
landslide win for CC marked the fourth time this season they've
topped an SCAC opponent by 20 or more goals. On Sunday, the Petrels
trailed 5-3 following an Arness Holsey strike early in the second
quarter but the Pirates tallied the final 18 goals of the contest
to earn the lopsided win. Southwestern netted the next three
strikes before Holsey notched what would be Oglethorpe's final
tally to make the score 5-3 with 14:38 to play in the second. The
Pirates also claimed 50 of the 81 ground ball chances while
Oglethorpe's goalie John Brewer made 21 saves while allowing the 23
goals. Oglethorpe is now 2-9 on the season and will return home for
their final two contests of 2011. First up is the University of
Dallas this Sunday at 1:00 p.m. on Salamone Field.
Sewanee extended their win streak to four as they
took down SCAC opponents Hendrix and Millsaps on a weekend road
swing. The Tigers edged out Hendrix, 10-6, on Friday, before
toppling Millsaps, 26-2, on Sunday. Against Hendrix, Sewanee jumped
out to a 7-1 halftime on their way to the win. Michael Morris,
Davis Brown, and Jack Thomasson all scored two goals for the
Tigers, while Thomas Moore grabbed six groundballs and Tommy Healy
collected 11 saves in 60 minutes of play. Sewanee faced Millsaps on
Sunday and 13 different Tigers found the back of the net in a 26-2
rout of the Majors. Thomasson led the attack with five goals, while
Thomas Moore netted three goals and two assists, as Sewanee
out-shot the Majors 71-13. Healy didn’t allow a goal in 30
minutes of play as the Tigers picked up 55 groundballs on the day.
With the win, Sewanee evens their overall record at 6-6 and sits at
5-1 in the SCAC. They will play host to Birmingham-Southern at 7
p.m. Friday evening.
Southwestern split conference games this week
to move to 6-8 on the year and 3-3 in the SCAC, just half a game
behind Hendrix for the final spot in the first ever Southern
Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament. Friday afternoon the
Pirates hosted Birmingham-Southern. It was not only the weather
that was hot but also the Panthers as they piled on the goals
early, scoring on their first four shots en route to a 20-5 win. SU
rebounded well, however, and scored early and often on Sunday
afternoon. The Pirates defeated the Stormy Petrels 23-3 with a
steady offensive attack led by Jamie Long's SU record six goals
while adding on five assists in the win. The Pirates face Hendrix
in what seems to be the decisive game for the fourth spot in the
conference on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
For the complete SCAC Men's Lax Weekly for Week 7,
click here.