SUWANEE, Ga. - Only three teams remain undefeated in SCAC play as Colorado College, Birmingham-Southern and Millsaps sport a combined 6-0 league mark as the calendar quickly approaches April. With its 12-11 win over Rhodes, Millsaps won its first ever SCAC men's lacrosse game last week.
AROUND THE SCAC
Birmingham-Southern went 2-0 this week on the road, picking up two conference wins with a 17-4 victory against Southwestern on Friday and a 23-6 win against Dallas on Sunday. Freshman Erik Klein led the Panthers against the Pirates with seven goals, and senior Jacob McPherson had four assists. Against Dallas, McPherson led with five goals and seven assists. On defense for the week, senior Chris Clarke led with 15 ground balls and six caused turnovers over the two games, and junior goalkeeper Andrew Huffman recorded 16 saves while allowing 10 goals in the two games. BSC returns home this weekend for two more conference games, facing Colorado College on Friday and Hendrix on Sunday.
Centre went 2-1 over the last week, wrapping up a spring break trip that involved four road games in eight days. On Tuesday, the Colonels bounced back from their first loss of the year with a 19-7 win at Piedmont in which Zack Connors, Connor Stubbs and Peter Murphy all scored three goals to lead the team. Centre then opened SCAC play on Friday at Colorado College where, despite scoring the most goals that had been given up by Colorado in an SCAC contest, the Colonels fell 22-10. Centre then concluded the trip with a 17-8 win at Hendrix in which it broke an 8-8 tie by scoring the final nine goals of the game. The Colonels host Sewanee on Friday night at 7 p.m.
Senior attackers Hunter Sprole and Moses Taylor combined for seven goals and a pair of assists to lead Colorado College to a 22-10 victory over Centre on Friday afternoon. Taylor recorded a season-high four goals and five points to pace the Tigers, who eclipsed the 20-goal mark for the first time this season and the ninth time in 13 games since lacrosse became a conference sport in 2010. Senior long-stick midfielder Zach Pierce had seven ground balls and caused three turnovers to lead the defense. Pierce grabbed a career-high 10 ground balls and tied his single-game best with five caused turnovers to help the Tigers grind out a 13-8 victory over Sewanee on Sunday. Colorado College began the week with a 15-6 loss against No. 19 Western New England University. Taylor led the Tigers with two goals, while Steedman finished with 12 saves. CC hits the road this weekend for SCAC games at Birmingham-Southern & Oglethorpe on Friday & Sunday, respectively.
Dallas (0-7, 0-3 SCAC) dropped three games this week to Concordia (Wis./L 17-10), Oglethorpe (L 13-12) and Birmingham-Southern (L23-6). The Crusaders return to action on March 30 and April 1 when they host Millsaps and Rhodes, respectively.
Hendrix opened SCAC play with a pair of home losses. Hendrix fell to Sewanee 15-5 on Friday and lost 17-8 to Centre on Sunday. Against the Tigers, sophomore midfielder Cameron Millstone had two goals on 14 shots, seven of which were on goal, and a game-highs even ground balls. Senior Zach Doelger and freshman Charles Hotchkiss each had a goal and an assist and senior Alex Wilkinson added a goal. The Warriors and Colonels were tied at 8-8 with 11:10 left in the third quarter, but Centre closed out the game with the final nine goals. Millstone led the Warrior offense with three goals and an assist. The St. Louis, Mo. native took 18 shots, 11 of which were on goal and had a game-high 14 groundballs and won 14 face-offs. Freshman Sean Tjaden had a goal and two assists and eight groundballs. Freshman Branden Harbaugh, Doelger, Wilkinson and freshman Hotchkiss each had a goal. Junior defenseman Robert McCarthy had 10 groundballs and three caused turnovers and senior defenseman James Hanson had five groundballs and two caused turnovers. Hendrix will travel to Oglethorpe and Birmingham-Southern for conference games this weekend.
With 1:05 remaining in the fourth quarter and down 11-10 to the Rhodes Lynx, sophomore Hunter Stevison scored two goals including the game winner with seven seconds remaining to lead Millsaps to their first Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference victory in school history as they defeated Rhodes 12-11. Stevison struck with 1:05 remaining as he shed his defender and ripped a shot into the back of the net to tie it. Rhodes got possession of the next faceoff and got a great look at the goal with 30 seconds remaining, but sophomore Chris Hood came up with a huge save and was able to get the clear to give Millsaps a chance. With the win, the Majors improve to 2-4 overall and have their first two game winning streak. They also improve to 1-0 in the conference. Millsaps is back in action on Friday as they travel to Irving, Texas to take on the University of Dallas. Faceoff is set for 4:30 p.m.
Oglethorpe split two road contests this past week, topping Dallas for their first win of the season on Friday (W, 13-12) and losing at Southwestern (L, 11-2) on Sunday. Against Dallas, Jake Godwin followed with his third goal of the game before Kasmarik added his second to suddenly make the score 8-6. Dallas netted the first two goals of the fourth quarter to reclaim a lead at 12-11 but the Oglethorpe men showed heart down the stretch, holding the Crusaders scoreless for the final 10 minutes during which time Holsey posted two big strikes to give the Petrels the 13-12 win. Against Southwestern, the Pirates tallied three goals in the first, second and fourth quarters and added two in the third period to dominate the contest. Godwin continued his scoring ways, notching his fourth goal of the weekend in the second quarter. Cooper O'Brien saved 17 of the 29 shot attempts he faced in the contest. OU is now 1-4 (1-1 SCAC) on the season and will come home to face Hendrix this Friday on Salamone Field at 3:30 p.m.
Rhodes dropped a tough 12-11 decision to Millsaps in the Lynx?s first-ever SCAC men?s lacrosse game on Saturday. Junior attacker Hugh Madison led the Lynx attack as he tallied three goals and two assists on 14 shots. Rhodes trailed 7-5 at halftime before outscoring the Majors 6-5 in the second half. Rhodes returns to action on March 30 and April 1 when they travel to Southwestern and then Dallas, respectively.
Sewanee split a pair of SCAC matches over the weekend. The Tigers earned an impressive 15-5 win over Hendrix before losing at Colorado College 13-8, Sunday. Against Hendrix, Sewanee wasted little time as the Tigers outscored Hendrix 6-0 in the first period. After Alex Wilkinson finally got the Warriors on the board, Sewanee responded with two more goals from Jack Thomasson and Pierce Leonard. In the second half, the Sewanee offense stayed hot. Sewanee scored the first four goals of the third period, which gave the Tigers a 12-2 advantage. Charlie Jackson then added two goals while James Millard ended the scoring off a Michael Morris assist. On Sunday, against Colorado College, the Tigers ended their four-match winning streak. Sewanee was hampered by a lack of scoring in the first half. This week, Sewanee will close out its SCAC road trip with a Friday contest at Centre.
Southwestern had a busy week, playing three games in six days. The Pirates fell to Concordia (Wis.) 9-3 on Monday afternoon, falling behind early by allowing six unanswered goals. On Friday afternoon SU hosted Birmingham-Southern to open SCAC play. The powerhouse Panthers were just too strong from the Pirates as they defeated SU 17-4. Southwestern responded with a dominating win, their first of the season, on Sunday morning, taking down Oglethorpe University 11-2. The Pirates dominated every offensive aspect of the game and never trailed for their first win of the season. SU moves to 1-8 on the season and 1-1 in the SCAC. They remain at home to face Rhodes on Friday and Millsaps on Sunday.
For the complete SCAC Men's Lax Weekly for Week 5, click here.
