Centre sophomore attackman Leland Gray’s (Louisville, Ky.) goal with just under a minute remaining gave the Colonels a 7-6 lead, but first-place Rhodes answered with two quick goals in the final 37 seconds of the contest to earn the 8-7 triumph in the regular season finale on Sunday afternoon.
Centre caps the regular season with a 5-8 overall mark with a 2-5 ledger in Southern Athletic Association (SAA) play, while the Lynx close the year with a 13-2 record with a 7-0 mark in the conference.
After Rhodes took a two-goal lead in the first quarter, the Colonels evened the game at 2-2 with scores by sophomore attackman Graeme Warner (Kent, Ohio) and senior midfielder Austin Zehnder (Prospect, Ky.).
Centre gained its first advantage of the day at 3-2 early in the second quarter as Gray scored his first goal of the afternoon off the assist by freshman midfielder Dominic Nayan (Memphis, Tenn.).
The Lynx would answer with two straight goals to take a 4-3 lead heading into halftime.
Rhodes extended its edge to 5-3 before Warner netted two goals in a row, both on assists from Nayan to knot the contest at 5-5 early in the fourth quarter.
A Lynx man-up goal by John Tooher regained the lead for the hosts at 6-5, but the Colonels answered with another score by Gray off the feed by freshman attackman John Morrison (Franklin, Tenn.) to knot the game at six apiece with 7:36 to play.
With just under a minute to play, senior midfielder Lorenzo Powell (Newcastle, Wash.) forced a Rhodes turnover, scooped up the ground ball and dished it off to Gray who found the back of the cage to put Centre on top 7-6.
Unfortunately for the Colonels, the Lynx responded with two quick goals by Tooher, one with 37 seconds to play and the next with 22 ticks showing on the clock to seal the comeback victory for Rhodes.
Warner and Gray paced Centre with three goals apiece, while Nayan finished with a career-high four assists in the game.
Colonel goalkeeper Sam Long (Cincinnati, Ohio) made 17 saves in net for Centre.
Centre freshman Lucas Mozingo (Chattanooga, Tenn.) was 11-for-18 on faceoffs in the contest.
The Lynx outshot the Colonels 43-23 and held a 38-26 advantage in ground balls.
The win marked the first for Rhodes over Centre in program history. The Colonels were previously 7-0 against the Lynx.
Centre enters the SAA Tournament as the No. 6 seed and will travel to Mt. Berry, Ga. to take on No. 3 seed Berry next Saturday, April 22 in a conference quarterfinal matchup. Times for the matchups with be announced on Monday.
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