Darrin Wilson scored four goals and Ben Boyd added three tallies as the Tusculum College men's lacrosse improved to 3-0 in its inaugural season with a 9-8 win at Young Harris College in non-conference action Saturday afternoon.

Wilson scored three second-half goals for the Pioneers, including one with five seconds left in the third quarter that put Tusculum ahead for good and an insurance goal with exactly five minutes left to give the Pioneers a 9-7 lead.

The Mountain Lions (1-3) were led by two goals and an assist from Adam Staniewicz and two goals from Ryan Ningard, but could not capitalize on a 16-4 advantage at the face-off dot as the Pioneers forced Young Harris into 20 turnovers.

Tusculum trailed early by scores of 1-0 and 2-1, but grabbed the lead by the end of the first quarter on goals by Kellen Asmundson and Boyd. The Pioneers held a 4-3 lead at the half and extended the margin to 6-3 early in the third quarter on goals from Wilson and Steven Raimondi.

However, Young Harris came back to tie the game as Ningard scored twice in a span of 3 1/2 minutes, followed 27 seconds later by a man-up goal from Zachary Laird that knotted the contest at 6-6 with 2:31 to play in the third quarter. Wilson was able to restore the Pioneers' lead heading into the final quarter as he beat the clock for his third goal of the afternoon.

Boyd pushed the Tusculum advantage to 8-6 with 12:46 remaining, but Staniewicz brought the Mountain Lions back within 8-7 just 37 seconds later. Wilson came through with a goal with 5:00 left to extend the Tusculum lead to 9-7, but Joe Appolonia set up a frantic finish with a goal with 1:56 remaining. With Young Harris seeking the equalizer, Tusculum's Mitch Chapman caused a turnover with 22 seconds left that locked up the win for the Pioneers.

Chapman finished with four caused turnovers and four ground balls for the Pioneers, while Boyd, Ezra Cason, Michael Graziano and Jake Smith had three ground balls apiece. For the Mountain Lions, Andrew Kim had three caused turnovers and four ground balls, while Zac Barrett won 15 of his 19 faceoffs and collected 12 ground balls.

The Mountain Lions finished 2-for-6 with the man-up, while the Pioneers connected once in five extra-man situations. Young Harris outshot Tusculum 35-33 and had a 29-22 edge in ground balls.

Pioneer goalkeeper John Perrucci finished with 11 saves between the pipes, while the Mountain Lions' Bobby Parker recorded 16 saves in the game.

Tusculum will play its first South Atlantic Conference match next Saturday afternoon when Lenoir-Rhyne visits Pioneer Field for a 2 p.m. game.