MT. BERRY, Ga. (CentreColonels.com) – The Centre men's lacrosse team was bested by host Berry by a score of 13-9 in the quarterfinal round of the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) Tournament on Saturday night at Valhalla Stadium.

The Colonels close the 2017 campaign with a 5-9 ledger while the third-seeded Vikings improve to 11-4 and advance to next Friday's semifinals against No. 2 seed Sewanee.

Berry jumped out to a 5-1 lead early in the second quarter on Friday night, before a Centre goal by senior midfielder Lorenzo Powell (Newcastle, Wash.) minimized the deficit to 5-2 with just over nine minutes to play in the opening half.

The Vikings answered with two straight goals to build their advantage to 7-2, but senior midfielder Austin Zehnder's (Prospect, Ky.) goal off the feed by Graeme Warner (Kent, Ohio) with just under a minute showing on the first half clock cut the Berry lead to 7-3 heading into halftime.

Centre came out firing in the third quarter, netting three of the first four goals of the stanza to shrink the Vikings' edge to 8-6. Senior midfielder Bryant Portwood (Charlotte, N.C.) opened scoring for the half followed by sophomore attackman Leland Gray's (Louisville, Ky.) second goal of the game and a score by Warner with 8:40 to play in the period.

Berry responded with a 4-1 run to cap the third quarter, swelling the Vikings' advantage to 12-7 after three periods.

A Zehnder goal off the assist by freshman midfielder Dominic Nayan (Memphis, Tenn.) with just over nine minutes to play in the contest would cut the Berry lead back to four at 12-8.

After play resumed following a nearly two-hour weather delay, the Vikings tacked on another goal to gain a 13-8 lead with five minutes remaining.

With less than a minute to play, Powell would find the back of the cage again to shrink the final deficit to 13-9.

Zehnder, Powell, Gray and Portwood each netted two goals apiece to lead the Colonels while Nayan dished out a pair of assists.

Junior goalkeeper Sam Long (Cincinnati, Ohio) recorded a career-high 23 saves between the pipes for the Colonels. Long now has five career 20-save games.

The Vikings held a 61-29 shooting edge and a 55-24 advantage in ground balls.