SUWANEE, Ga. - The top four teams are set for the 2012 SCAC men's lacrosse championship tournament as Colorado College, Centre, Birmingham-Southern and Sewanee will play for the conference championship. The seeds, however, are not yet set with one final weekend of conference play left in the regular season.
AROUND THE SCAC
Birmingham-Southern played twice on the road this week and won both by big margins, defeating Millsaps on Friday, 21-2, and Rhodes on Sunday, 17-2. Over the past four games, BSC has now out-scored its opponents 8-12. Senior Jacob McPherson led with four goals against Millsaps, and freshman Erik Klein led with four goals against Rhodes. BSC returns home this weekend to finish out the regular season, hosting Centre on Friday and Sewanee on Sunday, before hosting the 2012 SCAC Championship the following weekend.
Centre wrapped up its home schedule with a pair
of SCAC wins over the weekend, improving its record to 11-2 overall
and 6-1 in conference play. On Friday, the Colonels posted a 15-7
win over Southwestern led by seven goals from sophomore Connor
Stubbs. Centre then rolled to a 22-5 win over Dallas on Sunday in
which 11 Colonels scored and seven scored multiple goals, led by
Zack Connors and Connor Stubbs with four each. The team's lone
senior, Jared Feuerstein was also honored in a ceremony before the
game. Centre goes on the road next weekend to finish the regular
season schedule with a trip to Birmingham-Southern on Friday
followed by Oglethorpe on Sunday.
Colorado College extended its winning streak to seven
games with a 17-2 victory at Hendrix on Saturday. Senior long-stick
midfielder Zach Pierce caused four turnovers and grabbed five
ground balls as the Tigers held their opponent to just two goals
for the third game in a row. CC, which lowered its goals-against
average to 6.00, has held eight of 10 opponents to less than 10
goals and five of seven SCAC foes to five or fewer. Junior
midfielder Steve Rijo struck for the first of his career-high five
goals just 57 seconds into the game and freshman midfielder Kevin
Wylie made it 2-0 just over a minute later. Freshman midfielder
Nick Ahrens scored what proved to be the first game-winning of his
career with 12:56 still to play in the first quarter. Colorado
College plays its final two road games of the regular season this
weekend when the Tigers visit Rhodes College and Millsaps College
on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
Dallas (2-11, 1-7 SCAC) went 1-2 on the week. To make up
for a Mar. 11 rainout in Shreveport, La., Dallas hosted Centenary
(La.), Wednesday at Crusader Field. Dallas defeated the Gents,
22-6, en route to the team's largest and second victory of the
season. Frank Sporleder led the Crusaders with seven goals, 17
ground balls and a 14-of-17 mark from the face-off circle. With
eight different goal scorers for Dallas, six had at least two goals
or more. Playing three periods, Crusader goalkeeper Blaise DuFrain
amassed eight saves in the triumph. Dallas was less fortunate in
conference play on the week, however, as the team dropped both SCAC
road contests. On Friday, Dallas fell 23-2 to Sewanee, before
suffering a 22-5 defeat to Centre on Sunday. Chris Kerner and
Philip Kaiser each registered two goals versus Centre.
Hendrix lost to first place Colorado College 17-2 in the
final game of the year at Warrior Field on Saturday. Sophomore
Cameron Millstone recorded a goal and an assist to break the school
record of 41 points for the year. Senior attacker Zach Doelger also
scored. Junior defenseman Robert McCarthy led the Warriors with 10
groundballs and senior keeper Keith Clemens had 20 saves and eight
groundballs. The Warriors will finish up the 2012 campaign at
Millsaps on Friday and at Rhodes on Sunday.
Millsaps went 1-1 this weekend as they welcomed in
Birmingham-Southern & Oglethorpe to Harper Davis Field on
Friday and Sunday. After falling to BSC, the Majors bounced back on
Sunday and took their second conference win of the season over the
Petrels. After a slow first quarter, Millsaps responded with 12
goals in the next three quarters as they dominated the second half
of play, outscoring the Stormy Petrels 7-2 en route to a 13-8 win.
Scott Budd led the way offensively with four goals, three
groundballs, and an assist while Brandon Allison added three goals,
an assist, and three groundballs. Stuart Madden picked up six
groundballs while freshman Jake Kaple added four. Sophomore Ryan
McKay picked up two assists. Defensively, sophomore Julien Speyer
was terrific on defense as he caused six turnovers on the afternoon
and picked up three groundballs. Sophomore Chris Hood added 13
saves. With the win, the Majors go to 3-9 on the year and 2-5 in
the SCAC. They are back home on Friday as they welcome in the
Hendrix Warriors to Twenty Field. First faceoff is set for 4:30
p.m.
Oglethorpe (1-10, 1-6 SCAC) dropped three games on the
week, including two SCAC contests. The Stormy Petrels started the
week with a 21-0 loss to Berry before falling to Rhodes (11-10 OT)
and Millsaps (13-8) over the weekend. Oglethorpe closes out its
season this week by hosting Huntingdon (Wednesday), Sewanee
(Friday) and Centre (Sunday).
Rhodes (2-8, 2-5 SCAC) went 1-1 on the week in
SCAC play. The Lynx opened the week with an 11-10 overtime
win over Oglethorpe. William Hornaday led the offense as he scored
four goals and tallied an assist. Rhodes finished the weekend with
a 17-2 loss to Birmingham-Southern. Rhodes closes out its inaugural
season on April 20 and 22 when they host Colorado College and
Hendrix, respectively.
Sewanee continued to roll with wins over Dallas and
Southwestern, last weekend. The Tigers outscored their SCAC foes by
a combined 37-6 total. In the past four matches, Sewanee has scored
78 goals. The Tigers head into this weekend’s contests in
fourth-place, one match behind Birmingham-Southern. The Tigers will
play BSC this weekend, after finishing its 2012 home season with an
8-1 record. Additionally, Sewanee has won four straight games while
Hal Smith leads the nation in face-off percentage. The Tigers
continue conference play with a 5 p.m. match Friday at
Oglethorpe.
With the season winding down Southwestern found
itself on the bubble for the final spot in the conference
tournament and faced two tough opponents in Centre and Sewanee over
the weekend on the road. In both games Southwestern fell behind
early but were able to get back in the game and within striking
distance. Centre used a consistent offensive presence in the second
half to down SU 15-7 while Sewanee posted six unanswered fourth
quarter goals to hand the Pirates a 14-4 loss on Sunday. After the
weekend Southwestern falls to 4-11 on the year, 4-4 in the SCAC and
out of the playoff picture. They return home for their final game
to take on the University of Dallas on Saturday at 1 p.m.
For the complete SCAC Men's Lax Weekly for Week 8,
click here.
