CONWAY, Ark. - The Hendrix College men's lacrosse team's comeback fell short in a 9-7 loss to Rhodes College in their Southern Athletic Association opener at Young-Wise Memorial Stadium Wednesday night.

The Warriors (4-4, 0-1) scored the first goal 3:36 into the game on a shot from sophomore Chris Cramer. The Lynx (6-0, 1-0) tied it up just under two minutes later when Ethan Garland found the cage. Sophomore midfielder Matt Latham put the Hendrix back up three minutes later.

In the second quarter, Rhodes recorded the first four goals, including two man-up scores, to go up 5-2. The Orange & Black picked up a goal from sophomore attacker Drew Scanlan. Junior defenseman Reed Mershon shuttled a pass downfield to freshman T. Michael Thomas who tipped the ball into the goal as the buzzer went off to make the game 5-4 at the break.

The game remained 5-4 until under two minutes in the third. The Lynx scored three times to take an 8-4 advantage into the final quarter. Thomas scored again on a pass from senior attacker Alex Ortenstone with 9:06 left. Ryan Fennelly put Rhodes up by three with 7:55 left. Ortenstone scored with 4:09 left to make the game 9-6. Just 29 seconds later, Thomas scored on a rebound to make the contest 9-7.

Rhodes managed to hold off the comeback by winning the faceoff while Hendrix committed three turnovers in the final minutes of the game.

For the game, Hendrix scored seven times with two assists, 29 shots, 18 on goal, 30 ground balls, won nine faceoffs, 24 turnovers and 10 caused turnovers while going 18-of-23 on clears. Rhodes had nine shots, five assists, 33 shots, 24 on goal, 36 ground balls, eight faceoffs, 16 turnovers, 15 casued turnovers and was 18-of-21 on clears.

Hendrix Notes
- Thomas led the Warriors with three goals and picked up three ground balls.
- Ortenstone had a goal and an assist.
- Cramer, Scanlan and Latham each scored a goal.
- Mershon posted an assist and three ground balls.
- Freshman defenseman Samuel Martin had a season-best three caused turnovers and two ground balls.
- Freshman Elias Ramos went 6-of-10 on faceoffs.
- Sophomore Owen Morse recorded a career-high three caused turnovers.
- Senior Christian Wheeler had 15 saves and seven ground balls in goal.

Rhodes Notes
- John Tooher led the Lynx with one goal and two assists with four ground balls and three caused turnovers.
- Mike Knudsen, Ryan Fennelly and Jason Lee each had a goal and an assist.
- James Margraff recorded two caused turnovers and six ground balls.
- Steven Yowan had a goal, five ground balls and two caused turnovers.
- Cameron Link recorded 11 saves.

Up Next
Hendrix will be off until Thursday, Mar. 8 when they host Trine University.