By Emily Heid
Staff Writer
Photo courtesy of sewaneetigers.com
On Saturday, February 28 at historic Hardee-McGee Field at Harris Stadium, the Sewanee Men’s Lacrosse Team added another impressive victory to their season. The ranked No. 17 Roanoke Maroons posed a challenge to the Tigers, but the home team was able to pull through and up taking the lead in a very close game. The first quarter began with a goal scored by the Maroons, followed by a Tiger goal scored unassisted by Robbie Berndt (C’18). The quarter continued with a strong defense for the Tigers, with 4 saves being made by goalkeeper Selby Austin (C’17) and 5 ground balls. Only 4 of the 13 shots taken by the Maroons made it into the goal. Heading into the second quarter down by 3 goals, the Tigers were determined to make it a closer game. The first goal of the second quarter was scored unassisted by the Tigers’ Matthew Stiefel (C’17), followed by a Maroon goal, two more Tiger goals by Jimmy Parker (C’18) and Cotter Brown (C’16), and an additional two by the Maroons.
The Tigers came out of the locker room for the second half of the game with a strong drive to reverse the 7-4 Maroon lead. Allowing the Maroons to score the first goal of the quarter, the Tigers soon put Roanoke in its place by scoring until the clock ran out, with goals made by George Bukawyn (2) (C’17), C. Brown, Peter Brown (C’18) and Joe Randazzo (C’17). The third quarter gave the tigers the momentum they needed to finally take a 9-8 lead against their ranked opponent. The intense final quarter was fueled by the will of each team to come out as the victor. Sewanee’s defensemen refused to back down, despite the 9 shots on goal taken by Roanoke. The Tigers’ attackmen actively tested the Roanoke defense by taking 13 shots on goal. Within the last minutes of the game, Berndt scored another goal to give Sewanee a two point lead. Immediately following, a final goal was scored by Roanoke, but at that point the 10-9 win had already been secured by the Tigers. By the end of the game, Sewanee goalkeeper, Austin had made an impressive 17 saves and was named SAA Mlax Defensive Player of the Week. Continue to keep track of the Tigers’ success and please come out to support them as they play Wittenburg at home at 6:00PM Wednesday, March 11th.