MEMPHIS, Tenn. (April 25, 2022) - The Rhodes Lynx continued their domination of SAA foes in the semi-final matchup against #4 seed Birmingham Southern on Sunday afternoon at Mason Field, taking the match 26-3. The win moves Rhodes to 13-3 on the season.
The matchup followed the game script that has been prominent since the beginning of conference play. Rhodes jumped out to an early lead with an aggressive attack and stifling defensive effort.
Avery Burke scored the first two goals of the game, and added a third for the hat trick minutes later.
Chloe Parker also collected three scores in the first off two feeds from
Payton Bennett and one from
Baylee Barker. Bennett scored twice as well, giving her 50 goals for the season.
Emily Bruner and BArker rounded out the scoring assault for the period, giving Rhodes a 10-0 lead. The Panthers only took four shots in the first, and also turned the ball over 11 times.
Quarter two played to a similar pace, with Rhodes outscoring BSC 7-0.
Carina Wesker joined the three-goal club with two scores early (including one in a man-down situation) before adding a third around the 4-minute mark. Barker scored twice in the period to give her three goals as well. Parker continued her career day with two more scores as well, including a shot that found the net with only one second left on the clock before the halftime buzzer. Rhodes took a 17-0 lead into the break.
The Lynx took their foot off the gas just a touch in the third. Barker added one more to her box score before calling it a day, bringing her season goal total to 62. Parker scored twice more in the third, giving her a career-high seven goals in the game. As head coach
Meghan Keelan started to empty the bench,
Izzy Parker was able to net a pair, and was joined on the scoreboard by
Molly Martiner. BSC did manage to avoid the shutout on a shot from Lizzie LaVangie.
Rhodes won the fourth quarter as well, outscoring the Panthers 3-2.
Molly Heidrick,
Madison Recker and
Grace Williams each put their names on the stat sheet with a goal a piece. By the time the final horn went off, it was 26-3 Rhodes, their second-largest margin of victory of the season (second only to a 25-0 shutout of Hendrix on March 11).
For the game, the Lynx outshot the Panthers 43-12, had nine fewer turnovers, and limited BSC to a 33% success rate on clears (8-24).
Emily Bruner tied the school record for assists for the third time this season, carding nine helpers. Eleven different Lynx scored a goal in this one, with Parker's seven leading the way.
Rhodes will battle #2 seed Sewanee for the SAA Championship on Sunday, May 1st at Mason Field. In the teams' previous matchup this season, Rhodes was victorious 20-6.
