Olivia Donnally, Campus Carrier Asst. Sports Editor
The Vikings men’s lacrosse team has been on a five-game winning streak and is now heading toward the SAA (Southern Athletic Association) Championship Quarterfinals as conference “co-champions” with Sewanee: The University of the South and Centre College. All three teams ended the regular season with a record of 6-1.
Since their last-second win against Sewanee on April 6, the Vikings have been beating teams by multiple points.
In the game against Sewanee sophomore attacker Cory Hall scored with one second left in regulation time, which led to the Vikings’ victory with a final score of 11-10.
“I heard someone say from the sidelines that we had seven seconds left in the game,” Hall said. “I just took the ball and shot.”
Hall scored five goals during the game. Other top scorers included sophomore attacker Max Smerka with three goals and junior midfielder Bryan Byers with one goal and two assists.
The Vikings’ victory over Sewanee gave both teams a SAA record of 4-1. Junior goalkeeper Jordan Boreman was later named SAA defensive player of the week due to this game. Boreman saved 18 goals throughout the course of the game.
The Vikings later played Birmingham-Southern College and remained victorious with a final score of 13-7 raising them even higher in the conference with an SAA record of 5-1.
Boreman continued with his goalkeeping and saved 10 goals during the game.
In previous games, the Vikings had been unable to defeat Birmingham-Southern, having lost to them twice before this season.
In their most recent game against Millsaps the Vikings won with a final score of 15-2. This game closed the regular season of play resulting in a final season record of 11-4 and a SAA record of 6-1 for the men’s lacrosse team. This is an improvement from last year’s record when the men’s lacrosse team finished the season 6-9.
“Things are looking up right now for our team,” sophomore defender Jake Lane said. “We have improved and grown a lot this year.”
Head Coach Chris Delfausse said that it is very exciting being co-champions in the SAA with it being the first year Berry was able to compete in conference play.
Sophomore attacker Blake Gwizdalski scored five of 15 goals for the Vikings. Byers contributed with three goals and two assists.
After the loss, Millsaps dropped to a record of 5-8 and a SAA record of 2-5.
The Vikings will now host the quarterfinal match for the SAA this Saturday against Millsaps at Ford Fields at 3 p.m.