MOUNT BERRY, Ga. - Twelve different players scored as Berry sent its men's lacrosse seniors out in style with an 18-3 victory over Oglethorpe in Southern Athletic Association play here at Valhalla Stadium.
The win clinches Berry (6-6, 2-4 SAA) the No. 5 seed for the SAA Championship and a trip to Birmingham, Ala., to face Birmingham-Southern in the quarterfinal round of the SAA Championship. The Vikings dropped a narrow, 10-8, decision when the two teams met two weeks ago.
Sunday's win, though, was as dominating a performance as the Vikings have had all year. Oglethorpe scored the first goal of the game, but
Michael McKenzie and
Tyler Banfield scored before the quarter break to give the Vikings a 2-1 lead.
The second quarter would set the tone for the rest of the game as BC would out-score the Stormy Petrels 7-1 over the 15-minute session.
Braxton Rich,
Michael Beirne, and
Nick English each scored before back-to-back goals from
Davis Cooke made it a 5-0 run. OU got on the board, but
Dillon Marchant and
Joey Cuthbert each added tallies before the end of the half as Berry opened up a 9-2 lead after 30 minutes.
The strong play continued in the second half as Berry held Oglethorpe scoreless over the first 27 minutes of the second 30. Cooke completed his hat trick with a goal to open the scoring in the third quarter as BC tallied five in the period. McKenzie also completed a hat trick with a pair in the frame, while Cuthbert and
Tad Zappa added single goals for the Vikings.
Berry kept the pressure on in the fourth.
Nick Caruti scored less than two minutes in, with
Chris Coleman finding himself alone in front of goal for another marker with 7:33 left in the game.
David Morris would score before a second from Caruti to cap the scoring for the Vikings, as Oglethorpe scored a very late consolation goal to keep from being shutout in the second half.
English would go 15-of-22 on the faceoff X to close his home career. He also had 13 of Berry's 45 ground balls in the game.
Oglethorpe turned the ball over 31 times and was only successful on eight clears for the match.
Berry will face BSC in the SAA Championship quarterfinals at a time to be announced.