GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum men's lacrosse team will embark on a 13-game regular season when the Pioneers play their season opener on Sunday, Feb. 4, head coach Richard Carrington has announced.
Tusculum's schedule of 13 games includes four teams that participated in last year's NCAA Division II Men's Lacrosse Championship tournament, with eight opponents finishing with .500 or better records a year ago. Carrington begins his fifth season as the program's only coach with a 26-30 record on the Tusculum sidelines, having increased the Pioneers' conference win total each year.
The Pioneers will look to build upon last year's highly-successful 11-4 record, which saw the team enter the USILA Division II rankings for the first time in program history. The Pioneers tied for second place in the SAC with a 6-2 record and advanced to the league semifinals for the second straight year. All four of Tusculum's losses came to nationally-ranked NCAA Tournament participants, with three by one goal.
For the fourth straight year, the Pioneers will visit Tampa for a matchup with the Spartans on Sunday, Feb. 4. Tusculum opened its season last year with a 15-8 loss to Tampa on Feb. 5, which was ranked fourth in the country at the time. Tampa finished 15-5 overall and 5-0 in the Sunshine State Conference, then won its conference tournament championship and advanced to the NCAA semifinals before falling to Limestone 12-10. Tampa has won each of the previous three meetings by an average score of 15-8.
After a week off, Tusculum will play its first of six home matches on Saturday, Feb. 17 against Shorter at Pioneer Field. The Pioneers and Hawks met for the first time last season, with Tusculum winning 23-6 on the road. The Hawks finished 0-14 last season, and will join the Great Lakes Valley Conference as an associate member beginning this season.
Tusculum renews its series with North Greenville on Saturday, Feb. 24 at Pioneer Field. The Crusaders were 9-9 last season and finished in fourth place in Conference Carolinas with a 4-3 record, before being ousted by Limestone in the league semifinals. The teams have met twice before, with the Pioneers winning at home 15-8 in 2015 and losing on the road 9-8 in 2016.
On Friday, March 2 Tusculum will travel to Nashville for its first-ever meeting with Alabama Huntsville. The Chargers were 6-7 last season as an independent, and will participate as an associate member in the Great Lakes Valley Conference with Shorter.
The Pioneers' final non-conference game comes on Wednesday, March 7 on the road against defending national champion Limestone. The Saints went 21-1 overall last season and 7-0 in Conference Carolinas, avenging their only regular-season loss with a win over Merrimack in the Division II championship game for their third national title in the last four seasons. Limestone has defeated the Pioneers twice previously, winning at home in 2014 and in Greeneville in 2016.
Tusculum opens its eight-game SAC schedule on Saturday, March 10 at home against Mars Hill. The Lions were 6-7 overall and finished seventh in the SAC with a 2-6 league record last season. The Pioneers won at Mars Hill 12-7 last season and have beaten the Lions each of the last two years after losses in both 2014 and 2015.
On Saturday, March 17 the Pioneers square off against defending conference regular-season champion Lenoir-Rhyne. The Bears went 12-3 overall last season and 8-0 in the conference during the regular season, but lost to Queens in the SAC Championship semifinals. The Bears earned a bid to the NCAA tournament and was eliminated by Tampa in the quarterfinal round. The Bears are 5-0 all-time against the Pioneers, including a 12-11 overtime win at home on March 18 of last season.
The Pioneers visit Queens on Saturday, March 24 to face a Royals squad that went 10-7 overall and 5-3 in the SAC for a fourth-place finish. Queens then defeated Catawba and Lenoir-Rhyne to advance to the conference championship match, where the Royals fell to Wingate 11-10 in overtime. The Pioneers beat Queens for the first time last season after three losses, winning 12-9 at home on April 1.
On Saturday, March 31, the Pioneers will take on first-year program Newberry on the road. Newberry announced on January 20 of last year that it would become the ninth SAC school to sponsor men's lacrosse, beginning with this season.
The Pioneers will begin April with a home match against Coker on Saturday, April 7. The Cobras missed the SAC Tournament last year after going 4-10 overall and 1-7 in league games for an eighth-place finish. Tusculum won at Coker 17-7 on April 9 of last season, their second straight win in the series after three losses.
Tusculum will visit Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday, April 11 for a renewal of what has emerged as a strong rivalry with the Railsplitters, who were 8-7 overall and 4-4 in the SAC a year ago. The Pioneers defeated LMU 13-12 in overtime on March 29 of last season, then beat the Railsplitters 11-4 in the SAC quarterfinals on April 25. All three regular-season meetings between the schools have been decided by one goal, with Tusculum winning twice in overtime on the road as part of a 3-1 lead in the series.
The Pioneers will host Wingate on Senior Day for the second straight year on Saturday, April 14. The Pioneers lost twice to the Bulldogs by one goal last season, falling 10-9 in their regular-season matchup on April 22 and 9-8 in the SAC semifinals on April 27. Wingate, which was 6-2 in the conference last season, went on to defeat Queens for the SAC championship and lost to Limestone in the NCAA quarterfinals to finish with a 13-4 overall record. Wingate is 5-0 all-time against Tusculum, but the last three victories have come by a combined total of four goals.
Tusculum closes out its regular season on Saturday, April 21 at Catawba. The Indians were 8-8 overall and tied for fifth place in the SAC with a 4-4 league record, losing to Queens in the quarterfinal round of the SAC tournament. The Pioneers beat the Indians 14-8 at home on March 25 of last season and have won three consecutive meetings to take a 3-1 advantage in the all-time series.
The six-team SAC Championship tournament will begin Tuesday, April 24 with the third and sixth place teams and fourth and fifth-place teams meeting in quarterfinal matchups. The top two seeds will play the quarterfinal winners in the semifinal round at Wingate on Friday, April 27, with the finals on Saturday, April 29 at Wingate.
The NCAA Division II Championship tournament will begin with first-round games on May 12, followed by semifinals on May 20. The championship match will be played Sunday, May 27 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
