DANVILLE, Ky. - The University of the South men's lacrosse team fended off Birmingham-Southern College in the semifinals of the 2022 Southern Athletic Association (SAA) Men's Lacrosse Tournament. The Tigers eliminated the Panthers with a 16-15 overtime result, Friday night from the South Campus Field on the campus of Centre College.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final Score: (3) Sewanee (7-8) 16, (2) Birmingham-Southern (12-3) 15 | OT
Sewanee Athletics Social Media | Twitter/Instagram: @SewaneeTigers
Men's Lacrosse Social Media | Twitter/Instagram: @SewaneeTigerLax
HOW IT HAPPENED
-A back-and-forth contest throughout, Sewanee went on an 8-1 run to flip the lead to 8-3 in favor of the Tigers with 5:31 left in the half.
-BSC scored twice late in the half to cut the deficit down to three, 8-5, at the break, and the Panthers kept the momentum into the third quarter. Carter McAlpin netted two straight goals to cap a 5-0 run to give the 2-seeded Panthers the 10-9 edge.
-Sewanee would claw back to get the lead back in their favor.
Ryan Hofstetter gave the Purple Tigers the 15-12 lead with 5:40 left in the game. However, the Panthers found an answer as they forced overtime with three straight of their own.
-Birmingham-Southern won the opening face off, but a 30-second clock violation gave the ball back to Sewanee with 3:31 left in the extra period. BSC made another mistake, as Mike Greer was sent to the box for interference.
-Earning its first man-up opportunity of the game, Sewanee took advantage of it.
Devon Root found
Luke Valentine for the game-winner to send Sewanee to its seventh SAA Title Game in ten seasons.
NOTES AND NUGGETS
-Sewanee improves to 6-1 versus Birmingham-Southern in tournament games, including winners of their last six.
-The Tigers and Panthers played their third overtime game in the tournament. Along with 2022's matchup, Sewanee took the win at home in the semis in 2015 and in the first round in 2019.
-Sewanee is now 15-3 all-time in SAA Tournament games.
BACK IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
-Sewanee returns to the SAA Championship Game for the first time since 2018. Making its seventh appearance in the final in the ten seasons of the championship, the Tigers went to the first six championship games in the history of the league (2013-14-15-16-17-18), winning four SAA Tournament Titles (2013-15-16-17).
-The Tigers will take on Rhodes in the championship on Sunday, who upended top-seed Centre on their home turf, 9-8, on Friday night.
-Rhodes and Sewanee will meet for the third time in the title game. This will be the first time the two teams have been on neutral territory for all the marbles. Rhodes hosted Sewanee during the last two meetings (2017-18). The Tigers edged the Lynx in 2017 to win the team's third straight SAA Championship, but it was the Lynx that won the crown the following year.
SEWANEE KEY STATISTICS
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Luke Valentine led the Tigers with six points thanks to four goals and two assists. He also added five ground balls. The junior netted his second golden goal of the year in overtime. Valentine also struck the game-winner versus Rhodes on April 10.
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Ryan Hofstetter also contributed five points with a hat trick and two assists.
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Jack Selner forced five turnovers to earn a new career-high, while
Joe Orem and
Jake Cohen each had three.
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Greg Ix (4-4) earned the win in 62 minutes.
BIRMINGHAM-SOUTHERN KEY STATISTICS
-Cameron Herd (four goals, two assists) and Carter McAlpin (two goals, four assists) led the Panthers offense with six points each.
-Will Johns won 27-of-34 face offs and collected 14 ground balls.
-Luke Fajack saved seven shots in 62 minutes for BSC.
UP NEXT
Sewanee will next battle Rhodes for all the marbles on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. CT from Danville, Ky.
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