MEMPHIS, Tenn. (March 20, 2022) - Despite gaining an early lead, the Rhodes Lynx could not hold on, and fell to the Elmhurst Blue Jays 8-6 on Sunday at Crain Field. The loss drops Rhodes to 0-9, while the Blue Jays improve to 6-2.

Conor Casey got the scoreboard working one minute into the game off a feed from Christian Cisneros to give the Lynx a 1-0 lead. A minute later, Ryan Dancy scooped a rebound off a missed shot and fired it past the Elmhurst goalkeeper for his tenth of the season. With momentum on Rhodes's side, Elmhurst called a timeout two minutes into the game to talk strategy. Moments later, they scored their first goal of the night on a Parker O'Leary strike. Both teams would add an additional goal before the end of the period. Rhodes' goal was an over-the-shoulder flick from Drew Litner off a sick feed from Cisneros that made it 3-2 Rhodes after one. 

The second quarter belonged to the Blue Jays. Not only did they outscore the Lynx 4-0, they out shot them 10-6, had fewer turnovers (3-6), and were a perfect 8-8 on clear attempts. Rhodes did dominate the faceoff circle, winning all five in the quarter, but they could not convert the possessions into goals. The halftime score was 6-3 in favor of Elmhurst. 

Rhodes was not ready to go down without a fight. It was their turn to dominate a quarter in the third. Sammy Carter found the net at the ten minuet mark in a man-up situation to pull Rhodes within two. Ninety seconds later, Drew Downes found space in front of the keeper and bounced one past to make it 6-5. The scoring for the quarter would end there, but the momentum was on Rhodes' side. The Lynx outshot the Blue Jays 13-7 and forced eight turnovers. Meanwhile, Brendan Roberts stopped all four shots on goal he faced.

The Lynx were able to knot the score at six apiece in the fourth quarter when Drew Litner launched a perfect pass to a cutting Downes who zipped it past the Blue Jays keeper to make it 6-6 with ten minutes to go. Unfortunately, the Lynx would not find thenet again in the match. Elmhurst scored two more times, and then successfully ran out the final eight minutes of play to take home the win. 

Downes was the only multi-goal scorer for the Lynx with a pair. Litner and Cisneros each finished with two points as well. 

NExt up for the Lynx is an SAA matchup with Oglethorpe on Friday, March 25. Faceoff is set for 6:00 pm at Crain Field.