BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (CentreColonels.com) – The Centre men's lacrosse team trailed Birmingham Southern 6-2 at halftime, but the Colonels outscored the Panthers 8-3 in the second half on their way to a 10-9 comeback victory as the team improved to 6-3 on the year and 2-1 in Southern Athletic Association games.

Birmingham Southern held a tremendous advantage in shots in the first half and their aggressiveness paid off early on as Tanner Schneider scored a pair of goals in the first five minutes of the opening period. The Colonels settled down in the first quarter, scoring a pair of goals of their own, with senior Conor Bennett (Alpharetta, Ga.) getting Centre on the board first. Senior Matt Hughes (Vero Beach, Fla.) found sophomore Dominic Peluso (Redondo Beach, Calif.) just past the five-minute mark to tie the game at 2-2 and conclude the scoring in the first period.

The Panthers dominated the second period as David Arnold scored three goals in a two-minute span to put BSC up 5-2. Thomas Grove added another goal at the 9:13 mark and the Colonels could not get any shots past keeper Hank Harris in the period as the teams entered the locker room with Centre trailing by four goals.

In the third quarter it was the Colonels who caught fire, scoring the first three goals of the period to cut the deficit to one goal. Conor Bennett's second goal of the contest was sandwiched between two goals from senior Seth Gray (Louisville, Ky.) as junior Austin Zehnder (Prospect, Ky.) and senior Joe Lencewicz (Gates Mills, Ohio) assisted on Gray's goals. The Panthers responded with a goal from Evan Lalande, but Hughes provided the answer just two minutes later, scoring to cut the Birmingham lead to 7-6. BSC's Tanner Schneider scored with two seconds remaining in the period to give the Panthers a two-goal lead heading into the final quarter of play.

The Colonels would quickly find themselves down 9-6 as Thomas Grove scored just 75 seconds into the fourth period, but the Centre defense would clamp down and their offense would dominate from that moment on. Conor Bennett scored his third goal of the game off a Lencewicz assist to make it 9-7, and then Hughes would make it 9-8 70 seconds later. With the Colonels still trailing by one and six minutes to go, Seth Gray scored his third goal of the game after an assist by his brother Leland Gray (Louisville, Ky.) to tie the score. Zehnder would find Lencewicz for the winning goal with just 73 seconds remaining in the game to complete the Centre comeback. Sophomore Samuel Long (Cincinnati, Ohio) made a key save in the final minute and junior Connor Thuss (Ridgefield, Conn.) picked up the final ground ball of the contest to secure the Centre victory.

Conor Bennett and Seth Gray tied a game high with three goals each. Austin Zehnder and Joe Lencewicz led the Colonels with a pair of assists apiece.

Sam Long saved 18 shots on the evening, including five critical saves in the fourth quarter, most notably his save of Justin Dennis's tying attempt with 24 seconds to go.

The Centre men's lacrosse team's five-game road trip will continue on Sunday as they travel to Jackson, Miss. to take on Millsaps for their third of five straight road games.