Box Score SEWANEE, Tenn. (April 24, 2016) – For the second straight season, the Sewanee men's lacrosse team earned the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) Tournament championship with a 9-7 win over rival Centre, Sunday, at historic Hardee-McGee Field at Harris Stadium.
The win gives Sewanee the SAA's automatic bid into the 2016 NCAA Tournament. Sewanee is now the first team in league history to win back-to-back titles. The Tigers have won three championships (2013, 2015, 2016) since the league's first season in 2013.
Sewanee opened the game on a 4-0 run by the end of the first quarter. During that stretch, Robbie Berndt scored twice while Peter Brown and Cotter Brown also added a goal.
Ahead 4-0 to start the second quarter, Sewanee kept rolling. Peter Brown added his second goal while Hayden Byrd ripped a shot in with 11:39 left in the first half.
Unfortunately, Centre did not go away quietly. The Colonels scored the next four goals to pull to within two, 6-4, with 9:23 left to play in the third quarter.
Peter Brown then slowed the Centre run with his third goal three and a half minutes later. Joe Lencewicz then cut the Tiger lead back to two, 7-5, before the third quarter ended.
After Thomas Lynde picked up a loose ball and fired in the Tigers' eighth goal, Centre answered back with back-to-back goals from Dustin Cowell and LeLand Gray.
With Centre down only one with 5:50 to play, Sewanee stepped up. Along with outstanding defense, Sewanee was able to kill the clock on offense. As time ticked down, freshman Hayden Hunt put the game away with a goal with 12 seconds to play.
Overall, Sewanee had more shots, faceoffs wins, and groundballs. The Tigers were led by their defense that combined for 10 caused turnovers and nine Centre broken clears. Along with Selby Austin's seven saves, Brown had four caused turnovers while Jake Chintz had two and Jimmy Parker, Stewart Roddey, George Pratt, and Wil Rainer all had one.
Over the past nine games, Sewanee's backline has not allowed more than six goals in any contest.
On offense, Brown, the tournament's MVP, finished with three goals and three groundballs to go along with his caused turnovers.
Seth Gray and Lencewicz both finished with two goals for Centre.
For more information on Sewanee Athletics, please visit www.SewaneeTigers.com. You can also check the Tigers out on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Flickr.
