MEMPHIS, Tenn. (May 1, 2022) - The Rhodes Lynx continued their historic dominance of the Southern Athletic Association by securing their seventh straight tournament championship with a 25-12 blowout win over the Sewanee Tigers at Mason Field on Sunday. Rhodes moves to 14-3 on the season, and will have an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament beginning May 13-15.

While the final score shows a big win for the Lynx, the game actually had a number of tense moments. Playing to their season script, Rhodes jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter by scoring the first six goals of the game. Avery Burke and Aidan Pike each scored a pair, while Payton Bennett and Baylee Barker added one each. Sewanee was able to gain a bit of momentum, and put together a three-goal run to wrap up the quarter down only 6-3. 

Rhodes got things back on track in the second, though it surprisingly took more than five minutes for the first score of the quarter. Emily Bruner zipped one past the Tigers keeper, but Sewanee answered back a minute later when Ellie Tate Schutte scored her second of the day in a man-down situation. Payton Bennett took it upon herself to gain control back for the Lynx, scoring twice in ninety seconds to move the score to 9-4. After Hattie Fogarty scored her SAA-leading 70th goal of the year, Rhodes scored twice more before half thanks to Julia Dalessandro and Barker, taking an 11-5 lead into halftime. 

Things got interesting for the first half of the third quarter as Sewanee ripped off four straight goals to open the quarter, making it a 12-9 game. The last goal woke up the Lynx offense, who proceeded to go on a run of their own, scoring five straight goals from the sticks of Aidan Pike (twice) and Barker (three times). Sewanee added one more before the horn, making it 17-10 heading into the fourth. 

The two teams swapped two goals each in the first three minutes, with Anna Erskine and Bennett coming through for the Lynx. After three minutes of string defense on both sides, Rhodes put the game away with a six-goal run. Bennett and Barker scored two more times each, along with shots from Chloe Parker and Burke to make the final of 25-12. 

Barker led the team with eight goals, moving her season total to 70. Bennett scored six times and added three assists to lead the team with nine total points. Emily Bruner scored once and led the team in assists with six. Emma Bradley saved 12 shots in goal for the Lynx. 

Rhodes has not lost a game to an SAA foe since 2016. This year, they averaged 23.37 goals per game against the conference opponents. 

The All-Tournament team was also announced after the game. The recipients were:
Oglethorpe - Syndey Trammell
Centre  - McKenna Hulette
Berry - Anna Kate Estock
Sewanee - Molly Morris, Hattie Fogarty, Hadley Meadows
Rhodes - Emma Bradley, Baylee Barker, Payton Bennett, Emily Bruner (MVP)