Elon Makes History, Upsets Emory
By Lee Wilson
Game photos by Dave Adams
Johns Creek, GA (April 20, 2008) – When Patrick Brooks scored the go-ahead goal with 2.6 seconds to go, all he knew was that he had given the Elon Phoenix a 7-6 lead that sealed the SouthEastern Lacrosse Conference (SELC) Division 2 Championship. What he didn’t know is he helped Elon make SELC history.
With their defeat of the top-seeded Emory Eagles Saturday afternoon at Northview High School, Elon became the first Division 2 team in the SELC history lower than a 2-seed to win the championship. Not to mention the game was largely controlled by Emory, who until late in the third quarter lead 5-1.
The Phoenix made a run that took them to victory lane, and head coach Steve Spartin could not have been happier.
“This is unbelievable,” said Spartin just seconds before the team doused him with the water cooler. “We have come so close in the past couple of years. I couldn’t be more proud of these guys today for never giving up and keep fighting.”
Brooks shared his coach’s thoughts, but was not willing to take too much credit for the win.
“[The game-winning goal] felt awesome man but it was all our goalie, he made a great play with a one-on-one at the end and that’s his game right there,” said Brooks. “We wanted to win this game, we wanted to make a statement. We are a second half team and today we showed it. ”
Emory, who defeated Elon 10-8 at the beginning of the year, had complete control of the game, gaining advantages in every offensive category and dominating possession time. They seemed to have Elon defeated when they lead 5-1, but Benko said the seniors on his team in particular refused to lose this game.
“It all starts with the seniors all the way down,” said Spartin. “When you know it’s the last game you might ever play, you don’t have any more time. You have to give it all you’ve got.”
The Eagles were humbled in the defeat, but also upset with the end of the game. Within the games final seconds and the score knotted at 6-6, Emory was on a fast break. They dished the ball down and worked a one-on-one chance but to no avail.
The coaches were deeply frustrated though because apparently as soon as they crossed the midfield line, they all started calling for a timeout that was not granted.
“Yeah we called timeout for about 20 seconds when we had possession,” said Eagles head coach Dave Reed. “They said they didn’t hear us.”
That was not a good enough explanation for Reed though.
“I have five coaches, we were all screaming and everyone else heard it,” said Reed. “It’s unbelievable. That’s not to take anything away from Elon’s effort.”
The entire Eagles coaching staff mirrored Reed’s sentiments as they expressed their discontent with the officials to the SELC board members present and carried the discussions through to other coaches and officials present.
A frustrated Reed did his best to explain that they were not making excuses for blowing a four-goal lead in a game that they had under complete control, as he added “Elon is a great team.”
As for that great team, the Phoenix receive an automatic bid to the MCLA Division 2 national championship tournament in Dallas, Texas from May 13th through May 17th. If their performance on Sunday afternoon is any indication of the team’s character and heart, who knows how far they can go in the tournament, they just might make history again.
