Tusculum College scored 13 unanswered goals in the first half
and cruised to a 23-6 win over Lees-McRae College in the first home
men's lacrosse game in school history Wednesday night at Pioneer
Field.
Eleven different players scored goals for the Pioneers (2-0), with
Ben Boyd leading the way with five goals and a pair of assists.
Kellen Asmundson, David Fernandes and Steven Raimondi added three
goals apiece and Jack Timerson had a goal and five assists as
Tusculum scored 10 goals in the first quarter and built a 14-1 lead
at halftime against the Bobcats (0-2).
Tusculum finished the game with a 53-23 shot advantage over
Lees-McRae and won 21 of 33 faceoffs against the Bobcats. Ezra
Cason and Brad Sage had two goals apiece while five other players
scored one goal for the Pioneers, who turned the offense back on in
the fourth quarter with eight goals. Kyle Judge paced Lees-McRae
with three goals while Louis Parks scored twice and Dalton Lamb
added a goal for the Bobcats.
With a large and enthusiastic crowd on hand, Raimondi scored the
historic first goal at Pioneer Field just 59 seconds into the game
to give the Pioneers a quick 1-0 lead, but Parks came back 31
seconds later to tie the game at 1-1. From there it was all
Pioneers as Timerson and Boyd scored 37 seconds apart for a 3-1
Tusculum lead, followed by a man-down goal from Jake Smith that
extended the lead to 4-1 with 6:35 left in the first quarter.
Tusculum exploded for six goals in the final 4:11 of the quarter,
as Asmundson, Raimondi, Coogan Lethco and Boyd scored in a span of
1:45 to push the Pioneers on top 8-1. Goals by Fernandes and Boyd
in the final 35 seconds of the quarter sent Tusculum to the
sidelines with a 10-1 lead after 15 minutes.
The Pioneers added to the offense early in the second quarter, with
goals from Raimondi, Sean Gilbane and Boyd giving Tusculum a 13-1
lead with 11:16 left in the half. Brad Sage closed out the
first-half scoring with a goal with 28 seconds left to make the
score 14-1 at the break.
Both teams scored just once in the third quarter, as a goal from
the Bobcats' Judge was answered by Fernandes to give Tusculum a
15-2 lead entering the final frame. The fourth quarter saw an
offensive onslaught, as the teams combined for 12 goals including
four in final two minutes from Tusculum to close out the scoring.
Asmundson and Cason had two goals each in the final quarter, while
Fernandes, Ryan Kelly, Sage and Boyd had one goal apiece for the
Pioneers.
Defensively, Smith led the Pioneers with five caused turnovers and
five ground balls, while Mitch Chapman had two caused turnovers and
picked up five ground balls. Tyler Schafer also had a solid game on
the defense with four ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers
for Tusculum.
Tusculum was dominant at the face-off dot, as Thomas Loudon was
10-for-14 and had nine ground balls and Alexander Kleinberg was
9-for-11 with nine ground balls. Dustin Barrow was the top faceoff
man for the Bobcats, winning nine out of 17 and collecting four
ground balls.
John Hanes finished the match with a team-high six ground balls for
Lees-McRae, with Dillon Quinn adding five and Tam Nguyen collecting
four to go along with three caused turnovers.
Tusculum was whistled for seven penalties for 5:30 in length, and
allowed one man-up goal in five chances. Lees-McRae was called
three times for four minutes, and did not allow an man-up goal in
two opportunities.
John Perrucci started in goal for the Pioneers and made six saves
while allowing two goals in 37 minutes of play. Eddie Schoenig II
finished up the final 23 minutes and yielded four goals while also
tallying six saves. For the Bobcats, starter Blaine Williams was
pulled after giving up three goals in 6:39, with Mike Gregory
finishing up with eight saves in the final 53 minutes.
The Pioneers will be on the road Saturday for a non-conference
match at Young Harris beginning at 4 p.m.
