Wade named first-team All-SAC, five Pioneers earn conference honors

Wade named first-team All-SAC, five Pioneers earn conference honors

ROCK HILL, S.C. --- Five members of the Tusculum men's lacrosse team were selected to the All-South Atlantic Conference team, as voted upon by the conference's nine head coaches and announced by the league office Monday.

Junior midfielder Nate Wade was a first-team selection, with second-team honors to senior attack Ben Boyd, senior defender Ross Parsons and senior goalkeeper Kevin Haggerty. Junior midfielder Dallas Wade earned honorable mention status for the Pioneers, who finished the regular season 10-3 overall and tied for second place in the SAC with a 6-2 record, while earning a national ranking for the first time in program history.

Nate Wade finished second on the Pioneers with 29 goals and third with 40 points, ranking ninth in the SAC in goals and 12th in points. He shared the team lead with five man-up goals and collected 17 ground balls in 13 games. Wade had 15 goals and seven assists for 22 points in eight conference games, and finished with at least one goal in 12 of the Pioneers' 13 games. Wade had a season-high five goals and six points at Shorter on Feb. 18, and had three goals in wins over Brevard, Emmanuel and Catawba.

Wade, a native of Victoria, British Columbia, was named honorable mention All-SAC in 2015 and was a preseason second-team All-Conference selection in 2016. In 40 career games, Wade has 71 goals and 27 assists for 98 points, ranking third in program history in both goals and points and fourth in assists.

Boyd led the Pioneers with 33 goals and 45 points, ranking fifth in the conference in goals and eighth in points. Boyd was sixth on the team with 29 ground balls and scored three man-up goals during the season. Boyd scored at least one point in all 13 games, and had goals in 12 of the Pioneers' 13 contests. Boyd scored three or more goals eight times this season, including four-goal performances on the road at Lenoir-Rhyne (March 18), Lincoln Memorial (March 29), Coker (April 9) and Mars Hill (April 15). Boyd also had three goals in home games against Pfeiffer (Feb. 11), Walsh (Feb. 25), Emmanuel (March 11) and Queens (April 1). and scored the winning goal in overtime against Brevard on March 4.

Boyd, a native of Bel Air, Maryland, was a preseason second-team All-Conference selection prior to this season. He has appeared in all 54 games in program history and is the Tusculum program career leader in goals (98) and points (130) and ranks third with 115 ground balls. His eight career man-up goals are fourth-best in school history, while his 32 assists place him second all-time with the Pioneers.

Parsons started all 13 games for the Pioneers and scored a season-high six goals to go along with three assists for nine points. Parsons ranked third on the team with 40 ground balls and was second with 16 caused turnovers, tied for 12th most in the conference. Four of his six goals came in conference games, and he scored at least one point in six of the Pioneers' last seven games. Parsons had a season high of five ground balls against Brevard (March 4), Catawba (March 25), Queens (April 1) and Coker (April 9).

The native of Coquitlam, British Columbia is one of two Pioneers to have played in all 54 games in program history. He has 12 goals and 17 assists for 29 points in his career, ranking ninth in school history in assists. Parsons has 98 career ground balls, the fourth-most in program history, while his 35 caused turnovers are the third-highest total for the Pioneers.

Haggerty started all 13 games in goal for the Pioneers and ranked third in the SAC in both goals against average (8.75) and save percentage (.565), setting career bests in each category. Haggerty had 10 or more saves in eight games for the Pioneers, and registered at least nine saves in all eight conference games en route to ending the season with 135 stops. Haggerty had a season-high 16 saves against Lenoir-Rhyne on March 18, and finished the season by averaging 12.5 saves per game in the Pioneers' final four regular-season contests.

Haggerty, a native of Suffern, New York, is the program's career leader in every goalkeeping category, including games (41), minutes (2,408), goals against average (10.11), saves (468), save percentage (.535) and wins (20).

Dallas Wade recorded 11 goals and 16 assists for 27 points for the Pioneers this season, one of eight players to score in double figures for Tusculum. Wade had three goals and nine assists for 12 points in eight conference games, including a goal and four assists against Lenoir-Rhyne on March 18. Wade scored two goals in wins over Pfeiffer (Feb. 11), Shorter (Feb. 18) and Walsh (Feb. 25), finishing with a career-best six points in the Shorter game. Wade had at least one point in six of the Pioneers' eight conference games, including an overtime goal in Tusculum's 13-12 win over Lincoln Memorial on March 29.

Wade, a second-team All-SAC choice last season and a preseason first-team All-Conference pick this year, is a native of Victoria, British Columbia and has 52 goals and 30 assists for 82 points in 40 career games. Wade has 52 goals and 30 assists for 82 points, placing him fourth in program history in points and goals and third in assists. Wade also ranks eighth all-time for Tusculum with 64 ground balls.

Tusculum also claimed three team statistical championships from the conference, leading the league in scoring offense (14.83 goals per game), scoring margin (plus-6.0 goals per game) and man-down defense (80.0 percent).

Conference champion Lenoir-Rhyne placed six players on the first team and swept the individual awards, as Mike Hanlon was named Player of the Year, Eric Dickinson was Freshman of the Year and Greg Paradine earned Coach of the Year honors.

Tusculum is the number-three seed in the SAC Men's Lacrosse Championship tournament and will host sixth-seeded Lincoln Memorial on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Pioneer Field in a quarterfinal matchup. The Pioneers and Railsplitters will be meeting for the fourth time, with each of the three previous matchups decided by one goal. The winner will face second-seeded Wingate in the SAC semifinals Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Queens, with the championship game scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m.