Mt. Berry, Ga. - Michael McKenzie's game-winning goal with 2.4 seconds left capped a second-half rally to give Berry a 12-11 victory over visiting Southwestern in men's lacrosse inside Valhalla Friday night.

"We love a good one-goal game," said Berry head coach Curtis Gilbert. "Our guys showed incredible resiliency. We played like we were a little imtimidated in the first half, and I challenged the guys to compete in the second half. We stood our ground and didn't back down."

The Vikings entered the second half down 7-4, but cut the defecit to one at 8-7 to end the third quarter after Ethan Perlakowski scored with the man-advantage for the Vikings. Tyler Banfield tied the score early in the fourth for BC, but after a Southwestern (0-1) goal, Joey Cuthbert and Jake Sheerin scored less than a minute apart to give the Vikings their first lead of the night, 10-9. Southwestern would score less than a minute later, tying the game with half of the fourth quarter to go.

Berry would take the lead with just under two minutes left on McKenzie's first collegiate goal. Southwestern would tie the game with 1:06 remaining, but Nick English would help Berry win the next faceoff and the Vikings asked for timeout to set up a play.

The Vikings would work the ball around the offensive zone, trying to hold for the final shot of the game. As the defense started to collapse inward on goal, Sheerin passed across the face of the goal to an open McKenzie, who fired into the back of the net to give Berry the 12-11 lead with 2.4 seconds remaining. Southwestern would call timeout to lobby for more time to be placed on the clock, but the officials felt the time remaining was correct, leaving time for just a scrum on the faceoff to give the Vikings the win.

"We needed this win," Coach Gilbert said. "We've been average the last two seasons, and this win gets us back competing at the level we want to be at. It felt like we were very lackadaisical on Tuesday and we were capable of a lot more. Southwestern is a really solid team, and this win gets us going in the direction we want to go in."

Sheerin and Banfield each had a pair of goals and a pair of assists for the Vikings (2-0). Noah Miller and Jackson Blaylock each had three points on the night along with McKenzie. RJ Maraski made 11 saves for the Vikings, while Noah Steiner had four ground balls.

Matt Caldwell and Cade McDonald each had a hat trick for Southwestern.

The Vikings will return to action Feb. 23 against Piedmont. Opening faceoff at Valhalla is set for 6 p.m.