Box Score MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Rhodes men's lacrosse team locked up their first Southern Athletic Association win of the season on Sunday, downing Oglethorpe University 9-8.
 
Rhodes improves their record to 7-6 on the year and 1-3 in league play while the Stormy Petrels fall to 1-8 on the season and 0-4 in conference play.
 
MG Jadick got the Lynx on the board first with a score at the 11:18 mark of the first quarter. Oglethorpe fought to tie it up at 1-1 with 2:40 to play in the first period with a Brayden Simpson goal. With just 17 seconds left, Rhodes reestablished its lead after Matt Vavrek found the back of the net to take a 2-1 lead into the quarter break.
 
The Lynx wasted no time building on their lead, as Cooper Robinson scored the third Rhodes goal to open the second period. By the 6:28 mark, Vavrek had posted his second score and lifted the Lynx to a 4-1 lead that would hold to the end of the half.
 
Oglethorpe came out of the halftime break firing, scoring back-to-back goals to cut their deficit to 4-3 with 11:16 to play in the third period. Vavrek had an answer, netting his third goal for a hat trick and cushioned the Lynx lead to 5-3. However the Petrels weren't finished just yet, as they connected on another pair of goals to knot the score at 5-5, a score that would hold for the duration of the third period.
 
With a new game in the fourth quarter, the Lynx' Kevin Vieira, Jason Lee and Merrill Charette stepped up to score back-to-back-to-back goals for the Lynx in the opening five minutes of the period to push to an 8-5 lead. Oglethorpe still showed signs of life, netting a goal from Hunter Dutton to pull within two with 7:15 to play.
 
Rhodes answered less than a minute later when Lee found the back of the net for the second time in the contest to give the Lynx the 9-6 advantage. The Petrels worked to post two more scores, within one minute of each other, with the second coming at 3:02 from Arness Holsey to pull within one at 9-8. The Lynx defense held strong as Rhodes closed out the game and held on for the 9-8 victory.
 
The Lynx took more shots than their opponent, shooting 49 shots to the Petrels 34. Rhodes also worked to scoop up more ground balls by a count of 37-14.
 
Rhodes' Braxton Carr got the win in goal for the Lynx, grabbing 16 saves in the outing.
 
The Lynx will be back in action on April 5 as they wrap up their home season against Millsaps College at 1 p.m. Rhodes will honor its senior members of the team in a ceremony held prior to the contest.