Photo courtesy of sewaneetigers.com
By Harry Davis
Staff Writer
On Friday, March 31, the Sewanee’s Men’s Lacrosse team beat Birmingham Southern College 12-7 to remain undefeated in Southern Athletic Association play.
The Panthers held a record of four wins and six losses coming into the game with a tough loss to Rhodes 17-9 on the 25th. The Panthers are an offensive minded team and have often relied on offensive to keep them in the game. In the four games Birmingham Southern had won they scored 13 goals twice and 23 goals twice to secure victories. With this in mind Sewanee needed to shut down the Panthers offense to secure a victory against another Divisional foe.
The Tigers came out dominant with six unanswered goals, led by Hayden Hunt’s (C’19) two goals in the first half, stifling the Panthers offense. Dominating all play in the first half, Sewanee forced 13 turnovers by the Panthers in the first half and outshot them 31-11. This first half was as near a complete first half as the Tigers have played all season, as they dominated all aspects of the game. From saves to clears (clearing the ball from the back of the defense to past the midfield), to ground balls, the Panthers came out slow and the Tigers made them pay for it.
Birmingham Southern came out strong in the second half, scoring two goals to cut the lead to six to two in the third quarter before the Tigers poured on two more goals to keep the deficit at six at the beginning of the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Panthers scored five goals, but the game was already sealed, as Sewanee scored three more to bring the final score to 12 to 7.
Altogether a dominant performance for the Tigers, this game allowed the Tigers to strengthen their system before a four-game road trip to end the season. Sewanee packed the score sheet as Peter Brown (C’18), Thomas Lynde (C’19), and Hunt all had two goals. Goalie Selby Austin (C’17) finished the game with six saves as he lead the Tigers to another win.
After the game, Austin said, “We know the importance of all conference games, so we focused on coming out of the gates strong. The boys played well, and we are ready for Berry this Saturday.”
The Tigers start off a season-finishing, four-game road trip starting at Berry on Saturday, April 8 and then at Oglethorpe on Sunday, April 9.