Box Score SEWANEE, Tenn. (April 26, 2015) – Despite an early deficit, the Sewanee men's lacrosse team rallied to defeat rival Berry, 7-6, to win the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) Men's Lacrosse Championship, Sunday, at historic Hardee-McGee Field at Harris Stadium.
The Tigers are now 11-3 overall and receive the league's automatic bid into the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Sunday marked the second-ever SAA Tournament title (2013) for the Tigers. Sewanee also earned the 2015 SAA Regular Season Championship.
Berry opened the match with a strong first period. The Vikings scored four of the first five goals. Sewanee would finish the period with two goals by freshman Jimmy Parker to cut their deficit to 4-2.
After Robbie Berndt pulled the Tigers to within one with 5:43 left in the second period, Matt Dominguez pushed the Vikings lead back to two, 5-3, by halftime.
Berndt would then add another goal late in the third off a pass from Cotter Brown.
Sewanee then tied the contest at 5-5 to open the fourth period when Hayden Byrd netted a man-up goal off a pass from Conley Street.
With the momentum in favor of the Tigers, Sewanee kept rolling. Just 37 seconds later the Tigers took their first lead of the match when Berndt ripped in his third goal.
Berry would not go quietly as Paolo Falzi took advantage of a Sewanee penalty with a man-up goal from Jake Emche.
However, Sewanee won the ensuing faceoff, which set up the game-winning goal from Berndt with 2:36 left.
Overall, Berndt finished with four goals while Parker added two.
Another big key for Sewanee was the play of senior Hal Smith. Smith won 13-of-16 faceoffs.
In goal, Selby Austin earned his 10th win this season with six saves.
Berry goalkeeper Nick Voso also played well between the pipes with 17 saves.
For more information on Sewanee Athletics, please visit www.SewaneeTigers.com. You can also check the Tigers out on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Flickr.
