GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Ben Boyd scored the game-winning goal 2:17 into overtime as Tusculum College rallied after giving up a five-goal lead in a 12-11 victory over Brevard College in South Atlantic Conference men's lacrosse action Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Field.
Liam Macdonald scored the tying goal with 13.9 seconds left in the fourth quarter for the Pioneers (4-1, 1-0 SAC), who have won four consecutive games. Nate Wade led the Pioneers with three goals and two assists while Macdonald, Chris Ryan, Andrew Kransberger and Tyler Klarner scored two goals each. Keegan Bell had three assists to lead the Pioneers, including on Macdonald's tying goal near the end of regulation.
The Tornados (2-4, 0-1 SAC) rallied from a 5-0 deficit behind Ryan Taylor, who finished with six goals, while Mathew Dropuljic had three goals and two assists as Brevard took three separate one-goal leads in the fourth quarter only to see Tusculum come back and tie each time.
Tusculum outshot Brevard 43-26 and had advantages of 39-24 on ground balls and 14-11 on faceoffs, but allowed the Tornados to score a pair of man-up goals as part of their comeback.
The Pioneers opened the scoring on a goal by Wade with 8:05 left in the first quarter, then added two more goals in the final minute of the period from Klarner and Wade to go on top 3-0 heading into the second quarter. Two goals from Kransberger in a span of 1 minute, 40 seconds pushed the Pioneer lead to 5-0 with 6:33 left in the first half, before the Tornados got on the board on a goal by Dropuljic with 5:24 left in the half.
Taylor scored with a man advantage just 22 seconds later to pull Brevard within 5-2, and David Buono added a goal with 2:53 remaining in the half to cut the Tusculum lead to 5-3. Klarner's second goal of the afternoon came with 39 seconds left in the first half and gave the Pioneers a 6-3 lead heading to intermission.
Wade's third goal of the game extended the Tusculum advantage to 7-3 with 13:35 left in the third quarter, but the Tornados responded with four consecutive goals to tie the game. Taylor scored a pair in a three-minute span to cut the deficit to 7-5 with 10:14 left in the quarter, then Dropuljic cut the margin to 7-6 with a man-up goal with 2:04 left. Jackson McKaig tied the score at 7-7 with 14 seconds left in the period, but a quick faceoff win set up Macdonald to restore the Pioneers' lead at 8-7 with 0.7 seconds to play in the third.
Brevard needed just one minute of the fourth quarter to tie the game on a goal from Taylor, then Dropuljic gave Brevard a 9-8 lead with 12:15 left. Ryan scored with 10:40 to go to knot the contest at 9-9, but Taylor's fifth of the day restored the Tornados' lead at 10-9 with 8:52 to play. Another goal from the Pioneers' Ryan brough the teams into a 10-10 tie with 4:40 to go, but Taylor scored almost exactly a minute later for an 11-10 Brevard lead.
Trailing by a goal, the Pioneers were unable to put a shot on goal in three attempts before turning the ball over with 1:22 left. Brevard had possession coming out of a timeout, but Tusculum forced a turnover and set up in the offensive end with 29 seconds to go. After a timeout, Bell connected with Macdonald for the tying goal with 13.9 seconds left to send the game to overtime tied at 11-11.
Tusculum won the opening faceoff of the overtime and set up on offense, but Brevard goalkeeper Chris Stallings made a save on a shot attempt by Bell. Brevard brought the ball into the offensive end but turned it over, and Tusculum came back for a second possession in the overtime. After Klarner shot wide with just under two minutes left in the extra period, Boyd drove to the goal and went high over Stallings' stick for the game-winner.
The Pioneers' defense caused 14 of the Tornados' 19 turnovers in the game, including five from Quinn McKitrick and two each from Boyd, Ross Parsons and goalkeeper Kevin Haggerty. Joel Edgar led the Pioneers with eight ground balls, with Alexander Kleinberg registering seven ground balls thanks to a 12-for-19 performance at the faceoff dot.
Raheem Brown went 8-for-12 on faceoffs for the Tornados and had a team-high five ground balls, while Kyle Hunziker had three ground balls and a pair of assists for Brevard.
Haggerty finished with nine saves in goal for the Pioneers, while Stallings equaled him with nine saves in goal for the Tornados.
Tusculum will remain home for the third consecutive week when the Pioneers host Emmanuel in a non-conference match next Saturday at 2 p.m. at Pioneer Field.
