GEORGETOWN, Texas - Southwestern men's lacrosse defeated Rhodes College 7-3 on Friday evening to move into a three-way tie for second place in the SCAC.

As the game got underway it was clear early that the Pirates had the upper hand, but Rhodes' goalie, Carsonn Lewis, was in the right place at the right time to keep SU off the board during the first quarter.

Jeremy Tufnell, assisted by Michael Villa, broke the stalemate three minutes into the second quarter on a man-up opportunity. Fourteen seconds later Southwestern scored again off the faceoff, catching Rhodes' defense off-guard. Jamie Long cut behind the goal and found Nick Sivon crashing through the heart of the Lynx's defense for the Pirates' second goal of the game. Tyler Downing added an unassisted goal with just over three minutes remaining in the half and sent SU into the break up 3-0.

Long kicked off the second half with an unassisted goal, wrapping around the back of the net once again, but this time cut inside the defense and his low shot put Southwestern up by four. After another goal by Long, Rhodes won the faceoff and notched their first goal of the night as John Stanford dove inside from the right of the goal and snuck the ball past Chris O'Quain's left side. Downing had the answer for the Pirates, however, scoring after winning the resulting faceoff to maintain SU's five goal lead, 6-1, heading in the fourth quarter.

Rhodes' Van Roerty made a push to get the Lynx back in the game with two goals to start the fourth quarter, pulling RC within three, 6-3, with just over ten minutes to play. Southwestern's defense, which had been outstanding all night, kicked it up a notch to hold off Rhodes' final push while Elliot Kelly (pictured), assisted by Long, gave the Pirates the breathing room they needed to close out the game.

Long led offensively with two goals and two assists while Downing added two goals. Sivon added six caused turnovers and five ground balls to his goal. Ross Warkentin posted a team high seven ground balls while Cameron Metzker picked up six ground balls and caused four turnovers. O'Quain recorded 13 saves on 25 shots.

Southwestern led in every category, taking six more shots (31-25), picking up 14 more ground balls and won 9-14 faceoffs. SU also converted on 18 of 22 clears and committed four fewer turnovers (33-29).

The win moves the Pirates to 2-8 on the year and 2-1 in the SCAC. They remain at home to face Millsaps College (2-5, 1-1) on Sunday at 11 a.m.