By Harry Davis, Staff Writer
Sewanee entered a recent game against the Berry College Vikings with a record of eight wins and four losses and a record of four and one in their past five games. The Tigers looked to continue their recent success against a Berry team that they beat twice last year. Berry’s team only had five losses total in their last season, and the two losses to Sewanee created a tense atmosphere around the game as well as seeding for the playoffs.
Sewanee honored six seniors before the game: Peter Brown, Wil Friedman, Cason Liles, Ben Lucas, Jimmy Parker, and Tristan Robinson.
The Tigers began the game quickly as Ryan Stubits (C’19) won the faceoff and passed to Jake Vaughn (C’21) for a score. Sewanee then scored again to make the score two to zero with less than a minute of play. Both teams scored once before the Vikings scored one last goal with a little more than a minute left in the quarter. It was a good start to the game for the Tigers, as they capitalized on faceoff wins for three of their four goals, which lead to fast breaks for the offense.
Berry began the second quarter with a goal before another faceoff win for the Tigers led to a goal by Hayden Hunt (C’19). The Vikings scored twice, putting the pressure back on the Tigers, but Stubits won another faceoff and Sewanee scored another quick goal to take the momentum away from the Vikings. Berry then got called for a penalty and Sewanee scored while having a man advantage. Both teams scored one more time to make the halftime score eight to seven Sewanee.
The Tigers began the third quarter with a quick goal by Tristan Robinson (C’18) off another faceoff win; they followed this up with two more goals by Pratt and Thomas Lynde (C’19). The Vikings got back into the game with two goals, with the second on the man advantage with 57 seconds left in the third. The fourth quarter was a bad ending to a great game as Berry scored five goals in the final frame to Sewanee’s one.
The Tigers dominated in many statistics in this game, including faceoff wins (23-7), ground balls (32-22), and having one fewer turnover. However, it was not enough, and Berry took over in the fourth quarter.
Sewanee sits at number three in SAA standings at the end of the season and will open the 2018 Men’s Lacrosse Tournament at home against Hendrix on Friday, April 20.