CONWAY, Ark. – The Rhodes men's lacrosse team opened Southern Athletic Association play on Wednesday against Hendrix College, using overtime to down the Warriors 11-10.
The Lynx improve to 7-2 on the season and open league play with a 1-0 record, while the Warriors fall to 4-3 on the year, and 0-1 in conference action.
The Lynx were hot to open the contest, netting the first four goals from the sticks of
Cooper Robinson,
Jason Lee,
Ryan Fennelly, and
Austin Bridgforth. Rhodes held the Warriors scoreless in the opening period, and took a 4-0 led into the break.
Hendrix found the back of the net twice to open the second period, before Fennelly netted the lone Lynx goal of the period to give Rhodes a 5-2 lead heading into the half.
There was a flurry of scoring in the second half, with Lee scoring back-to-back goals to open play and boast a 7-2 lead. The Warriors netted two goals to one Lynx score from Fennelly to close the quarter, with Rhodes holding to an 8-4 lead.
The Warriors went to work in the fourth quarter scoring the opening two goals. Fennelly was able to answer at the 12:08 mark to give Rhodes a 9-6 edge. Hendrix caught fire and notched four straight goals down to the 4:35 mark to take their first lead of the contest at 10-9.
A Lee goal with 1:48 to play was a Lynx lifesaver, as it netted the contest at 10-10, to force extra time. In the overtime period, Fennelly connected just 1:32 into play to give Rhodes their 11th goal, and the victory.
Rhodes outshot their counterparts by a tally of 39-27, and fired more shots on goal with 31. The Lynx also scooped up more ground balls than the Warriors, by a margin of 35-33.
Fennelly led the Lynx with his five goals, including the game winner in overtime. The first-year also dished out four assists in the contest. Lee fired four goals and one assist, with Bridgforth and Robinson each adding one goal apiece.
Thomas Matthews was sound in goal for the Lynx, picking up the start. The first-year grabbed 11 saves and played 61:28 minutes in his seventh win of the season.
Rhodes will be back in action on Saturday, March 21 when they continue conference play against Birmingham Southern College.
