GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Vinny Ricci recorded four goals in leading top-ranked Limestone College to a 16-5 season-opening win at Tusculum College Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Field.
Limestone (1-0), the two-time defending NCAA Division II national champions, scored the first three goals of the game in the Saints' inaugural visit to Greeneville.
The Pioneers (0-1) bounced back with back-to-back goals from Ben Boyd and Dallas Wade to trim the deficit to 3-2 at the 5:12 mark of the opening quarter.
Limestone answered with three consecutive scores to move out to a 6-2 advantage early in the second quarter following a Dale Cornetta goal.
Tusculum's Chris Ryan halted the run with his first goal of the game with 12:52 left in the half to trail 6-3.
The Saints scored the final four goals of the period to take a 10-3 lead into the locker room.
It was a defensive stalemate for most of the third quarter as Charlie Sheehan's goal for Limestone was the only tally for the opening 13:53 of the half. The Saints broke up the drought on Brendan P. Smith's man-up goal, which sparked five in a row for the visitors to extend the lead to 16-3 with 12 minutes remaining in the game.
Nate Wade and Dallas Wade tallied back-to-back goals to provide the final scoring margin for the contest.
Jordan Saunderson tallied three goals and Cornetta finished with a pair for the Saints. Limestone net-minder Patrick Sheridan finished the game with seven saves in his 53 minutes of action, while teammate Danny Forren tallied three stops in his seven minutes in goal.
Dallas Wade led Tusculum with two goals and an assist, while TC goalkeeper Kevin Haggerty finished the game with 10 saves as he went the distance.
The Saints out-shot the Pioneers by a 41-29 margin, but Tusculum won the shot battle 11-9 in the final quarter. Limestone also recorded 34 ground balls led by Kevin Reisman's team-high 12, to go along with his 16 wins in the faceoff dot. TC accounted for 19 ground balls with Boyd and Alexander Kleinberg finishing with three each.
Tusculum returns to action next Sunday as the Pioneers travel to Florida to take on the University of Tampa for a noon contest.
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