Memphis - In their closest battle of the season, Rhodes men's lacrosse came from behind to seal the win against Widener University Tuesday afternoon. The win keeps the Lynx unbeaten with a 3-0 record as Widener drops to 1-3 this year.
It was the closest game of the season for the Lynx and the first time an opponent played more men on the field as Widener played 29 Pride and Rhodes 25 Lynx.
Rhodes broke open scoring when
Justin Powers powered the ball past Widener goalie Matt Horton. Widener quickly answered with two goals to take the lead in a matter of two minutes.
Addison Mueller then tied the game with 7:15 to go in the first period.
Neither team would score for the next 16 minutes until John Dunbar netted Widener's third goal and his second of the game.
David Perez answered for Rhodes with 1:17 left in the half. Horton had tallied 14 of his 15 saves in the first half.
In a much more physical second half,
Matt Perez opened scoring just 40 seconds into the half off a feed from
James Margraff to take the lead for good. He then netted another goal from
Ryan Marasco with 5:23 to play in the third period. Widener made it a one-goal game after the ensuing faceoff when Anthony Paone slipped the ball immediately to Brady Franks. After receiving a 30-second penalty, Rhodes'
Matthew Simon caused a turnover, scooped up the ground ball and raced down the field. He fed the ball to
Chris Conn in the center of the field who set a pass down low to
Ryan Fennelly. Fennelly put the ball away with three seconds left in the period to give Rhodes a 6-4 advantage.
Widener pulled with a goal again, but
Tyler Milwit lasered a goal past Horton as Marasco followed up with the game-winner with 7:52 to play. Widener scored back to back goals in a matter of seven seconds to threaten Rhodes' victory but ran out of time.
Matt Perez led the Lynx with two goals while Marasco tallied a goal and assist. Defensively,
Steven Yowan tallied the game-high eight ground balls and recorded a Lynx-high three turnovers.
Cameron Link earned his third win after saving eight shots.
Rhodes will next host Muhlenberg on Thursday at 1 p.m.
