The Sewanee men's lacrosse team won its third straight Southern Athletic Association (SAA) Championship Sunday by defeating rival Rhodes 8-7 at Crain Field. Sewanee has won SAA titles in 2013, 2015, 2016, and now in 2017. With the victory, the Tigers earn the SAA's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Sewanee will be making its fifth straight trip to the national event. Rhodes jumped in front first when Ethan Garland scored off an assist from Matthew Simon with 5:05 left in the first quarter. Sewanee answered back when Drew Crain ripped home a shot less than two minutes later. After Sewanee got the ball back on a great play from George Pratt, Jimmy Parker pushed the purple and gold in front. Sewanee eventually led 3-1 by the end of the first quarter after a goal from Thomas Lynde. That was followed with a goal from Will Pratt to open the second. Rhodes finally slowed the Sewanee run with a goal from John Tooher with 4:02 left before halftime. However, the Lynx momentum was short lived as Tiger goals from Paker and Pat DiMento pushed Sewanee in front 6-2 at the break. Just when it looked like Sewanee would run away with the title, Rhodes responded. The Lynx scored twice in the third quarter. After a Sewanee turnover early in the fourth, Rhodes scored again as Tooher ripped in his second goal of the match. Needing to answer back, Sewanee did. After a Rhodes penalty, Lynde scored a man-up goal with 10:18 to play. Rhodes immediately scored again, which set up the drama down the stretch. Sewanee's final goal came with 6:40 remaining as Jake Chintz scored after a Tiger clear. Minutes later, Rhodes pulled back to within one after Garland scored again. The Lynx did get the ball back with 59 seconds to play after a Sewanee turnover. After a timeout, Rhodes sketched out an offensive set for Tyler Milwit. However, Sewanee's defense was ready blocking the shot attempt with three seconds left. From there, time expired as Ben Griffin picked up the final groundball. Overall, Sewanee outshot Rhodes 41-30. The Tigers also had fewer turnovers, more groundballs, and more faceoff wins. In fact, Cason Liles and Ryan Stubits combined to go 11-for-19 on faceoffs. Parker and Lynde paced the offense with two goals each. Brown, Parker, Grant Gilmore, Pratt, Liles, Joe Randazzo, Stubits, Stewart Roddey, and Selby Austin all finished with multiple groundballs. Additionally, Cal Pearce and Gilmore finished with more than one caused turnover. In goal, Austin earned another conference title with seven saves. Sewanee will find out its opponent in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, May 7.