SEWANEE, Tenn. – The Rhodes women's lacrosse team upended Sewanee's perfect season to take it's first ever Southern Athletic Association title in just its second year as a program.
The Lynx earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, advancing with a 14-1 record while handing the Tigers their first loss of the season at 17-1.
The Lynx, looking for revenge on their lone loss of the season that came from the hands of Sewanee earlier in the season came out with a vengeance.
Kendall Cunningham wasted no time finding the back of the goal, taking a 1-0 lead just 25 seconds into play.
Sewanee snuck in a score to tie the contest, but the Lynx fired in two more goals, from Cunningham and
Ashley Dill to grab the 3-1 lead. The Tigers netted a pair of goals to tie the contest at 3-3, the last time the score would be tied.
Head coach
Brice Queener's squad went on a five-goal rampage, taking a commanding 8-3 lead with goals from Olivia Holmes,
Morgan Fuller,
Lindsay Gess and a pair from
Maggie Rippeto.
The Tigers worked in a pair of goals, but Rhodes posted the final goal of the half when Fuller fired in a shot to make the halftime score 9-5 in favor of the Lynx.
The offensive action slowed down in the second half for both teams. After Sewanee connected on a shot,
Andrea Lombardi buried a goal at the 23:17 mark for the 10-6 lead.
Sewanee fought to get back in the contest, netting three straight goals, but Rhodes stifled any comeback with a pair of scores from Cunningham off a free position shot and a Fuller set up pass for the 12-10 lead. Sewanee snuck in one more shot, with Dill coming up big on the answer. The Rhodes defense held strong for the remaining eight minutes of play, securing the 13-10 win and the SAA Title.
Rhodes outworked the Tigers in several columns, with 32 shots to 25 Tiger attempts. The Lynx edged their counterparts in draw controls, 14-13 and forced 11 Sewanee turnovers.
Sarah Daniels, in goal for all 60 minutes of play for the Lynx, snagged a game-high 12 saves in the outing for her 14th win of the year.
Cunningham was named the MVP of the SAA Coference Tournament, while Fuller, Windmueller and Daniels were all named to the All-Tournament team.
Rhodes will look forward to it first berth in the NCAA Tournament.
