GENEVA, NY (May 13, 2023) — While the Rhodes College seniors may have walked for commencement in Memphis this morning, the Lynx found themselves dancing into the NCAA Tournament Second Round after a 15-5 victory over the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. Rhodes will face host William Smith on Sunday, May 14 in the hopes of making the Regionals Third Round.
Rhodes kicked off the game with the first draw control but it was a defensive battle early on. Mariners goalie Amber Heverly intercepted a Lynx pass, giving Merchant Marine their first offensive possession of the game. It didn't last long before Emma Bradley intercepted a pass of her own. The Lynx capitalized on the next possession with Caroline Kardian scoring a free position goal. After back and forth play, Emily Bruner found Anna Erskine for her 100th assist of the season and gave Rhodes a 2-0 lead. About 90 seconds later, the Mariners answered with Jaqui Sheedy finding Jenna Turrentine for their first goal of the game. Chloe Parker netted a woman-up free position opportunity but the Mariners quickly responded with a goal from Sheedy to bring the Lynx lead within one heading into the first break.
While it took about 5 minutes to find the back of the net, Avery Burke opened up scoring in the second quarter from a free position opportunity. The Mariners continued to hang in the game and Kaitlyn Latchaw found Julia Coughlin for a quick answer. This would be the last Mariners goal for over 20 minutes. Defense really started to heat up behind two Lynx caused turnovers and four big saves from Bradley. Rhodes ended the half on a 3-0 scoring run with two goals from Parker and a woman-up free position goal from Carina Wesker.
The spark was lit at halftime and Rhodes exploded out of the gates in the third quarter with Bari Pinkett winning the draw control and Kardian finding Wesker for a Rhodes goal just 41 seconds in. The Lynx defense continued their strong stand with Bradley making another save and Erskine causing a turnover to force a fast break transition where Burke dished it to Wesker for a woman-down goal. Rhodes scored the next two goals with Bruner and Burke both finding the back of the net, extending the lead 10-3. The Mariners ended their scoring drought with 2:03 left in the third at the end of a woman-up opportunity off a Lauren Jablonowski goal. Rhodes would answer back at the end of the quarter with Bruner finding Erskine to extend the lead back to seven goals, 11-4.
The momentum continued in Rhodes' favor in the final 15 minutes with the Lynx outscoring the Mariners 3-1 to finish out the game. Burke added two more goals and found Parker for the third Lynx goal. Gianna Russo dished it to Meghan Malone for the lone Mariners goal.
Avery Burke led the offense with six points off four goals, two assists. Chloe Parker found the back of the net four times and Carina Wesker added three goals along with five draw controls. Emily Bruner dished out three assists and added a goal for the day. Caroline Kardian added a goal and an assist along with three draw controls. Anna Erskine netted two goals, picked up three ground balls and caused three turnovers.
Isabella Sklena led the team with four groundballs and caused two turnovers. Emma Bradley was a big presence in cage, recording 11 saves, causing two turnovers and picking up two groundballs. Defenders Sophia Comrie and Emma Norris each picked up two groundballs in a strong defensive performance.
The Rhodes Lynx will have a quick turnover as they take on host William Smith (18-0) on Sunday, May 14 at 1:00pm EST in a NCAA Tournament Second Round matchup. The winner of the game will advance into the Third Round.
