MEMPHIS, Tenn. (April 30, 2023) -- The Rhodes Lynx continued their dominant run of the Southern Athletic Association by securing their eighth straight tournament championship with a 22-8 win over the Berry Vikings at Mason Field on Sunday. Rhodes moves to 14-5 on the season and will have an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament beginning May 12-14. 

The Berry Vikings came into the game with strong energy and were the first to strike three minutes in off a Jaden Russell goal to bring Berry ahead early, 1-0. Senior Emily Bruner found Anna Erskine to even to the score 1-1. Both teams then battled back and forth before Berry came out ahead with Dani Taraska finding the back of the net. Berry then scored about 20 seconds later on a loose ball opportunity to take the early 3-1 advantage. Rhodes answered with their own back-to-back goals from Bruner and Carina Wesker to even things up at three. After more back-and-forth play, Chloe Parker and Chloe Pender each traded a goal to even things up at 4-4 heading into the first quarter break. 

Rhodes started to feel some positive momentum going into the second quarter as Avery Burke scored the next two goals creating a 6-4 advantage. Berry answered back with Molley Cross notching a free-position goal, cutting the lead back to one. Burke answered back with her hat trick goal off a free-position opportunity. Rhodes closed out the tight quarter on a 2-1 scoring run with Bruner finding both Caroline Kardian and Parker for a goal while the Lynx ticked off almost 60 seconds of a woman-down penalty. Berry's Pender added her second of the day. but Rhodes moved into halftime with a 9-6 advantage. 

The Lynx opened the second half on a woman-down penalty and were able to hold off the Berry offensive strike for a few minutes before Taraska scored an even-strength goal off a free-position look to bring the Vikings within two. This is the closest Berry would come in the second half as the Lynx absolutely dominated and went on an 8-0 scoring run to finish out the third quarter with three goals coming off free-position opportunities. Bruner and Molly Heidrick each scored twice while Burke notched a 3rd quarter hat trick. Sierra Anderson added a goal for the day during the scoring onslaught. 

Berry opened the final stretch in the same manner as the third with Abby Sprayberry scoring off a free-position look brining the game to 8-17. The Lynx answered with a 5-0 scoring run to close the door on Berry and secure their eighth straight SAA Championship. Burke scored another free-position goal and then the Lynx offense moved the ball seamlessly on attack for Parker to notch a woman-up goal off a feed from Bruner. Bruner found Parker, Burke and Wesker one more time a piece to extend the lead and secure the 22-8 victory. 

With Bruner's assists throughout the day, she set the new program record for number of points in a single-season. The previous mark to beat was 121. With her three goals and nine assists, she broke the record with 126 points and will continue to add to her total in NCAA tournament play. She tied the program record for assists in a game today with 9, a record she holds six times over. Her 12-point performance also set the new mark to beat for most points in a single game. 

Avery Burke led goalscorers with a new career-high eight goals in part due to 4-5 free position shooting. Chloe Parker tallied four goals while Carina Wesker put away two. Anna Erskine, Caroline Kardian and Sierra Anderson each added to the scoreboard with one goal a piece. Kardian added 10 draw controls to her stat sheet as she continued to make her presence known in the draw circle. 

Defensive plays led to offense as the Lynx outmatched the Vikings 18-9 on caused turnovers. Emily Bruner led the team with four while Burke, Bari Pinkett, Kardian and Wesker each added two on the day. The tenacious play showed up across the board as the Lynx made seven fewer turnovers, won the groundball battle 28-17 and the draw control battle 20-14. Pinkett led the team with 5 groundballs while also picking up 3 draw controls. Parker, Sophia Comrie, Kardian and Isabella Sklena each added three groundballs for the day. Emma Bradley made seven stops, giving her 140 stops on the season. 

Rhodes has not lost a game to an SAA foe since 2016. This year, they averaged 22.67 goals per game against conference opponents, leading the SAA.

The All-Tournament team was also announced after the game. The recipients were: 

Birmingham-Southern - Margot Peters 
Centre - Lily Gahm 
Oglethorpe - Savannah Freeman, Tori Perez
Sewanee - Sally Herrington, Marlin Price 
Berry - Kristina Jones, Sophia Morris, Dani Taraska 
Rhodes - Emma Bradley, Emily Bruner (MVP),  Avery Burke, Bari Pinkett