GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Maryville University defeated Tusculum University 8-4 in non-conference men's lacrosse action Monday afternoon at Pioneer Field.
The Saints (2-1) completed a two-game swing through East Tennessee by holding the Pioneers (1-2) to one goal through three quarters. Jacob Allen and Ty Wenck scored two goals apiece for Maryville, which outshot Tusculum 34-26 and finished 3-for-6 with the man advantage.
Liam Macdonald and Luke Doehring each had a goal and an assist for the Pioneers, who also received goals from Nate Raymond and Kale Lawrence in their home opener. Jordan Daniel and Josh Pickford had assists for Tusculum, which trailed 2-1 at halftime but gave up four straight goals to trail 6-1 early in the fourth quarter.
After a scoreless first quarter, Wenck scored 50 seconds into the second quarter to give the Saints a 1-0 lead. Ethan Olson scored with a man advantage just 26 seconds later to push the Maryville lead to 2-0, before Tusculum finally broke through as Lawrence scored a man-up goal with 12 seconds left in the first half.
The third quarter saw the Saints score all three goals in a span of 90 seconds, as Allen and Jake Foster scored man-up goals and Parker Lee added a goal for a 5-1 Maryville lead. Allen's second of the day with 19 seconds gone in the fourth quarter extended the Saints lead to 6-1, before Doehring scored with 13:43 left to make it 6-2. Raymond followed with exactly 8:00 left to pull the Pioneers within 6-3, but Jake Socia and Wenck pushed the Maryville lead to 8-3 before Macdonald closed the scoring with 31 seconds left.
Maryville finished with a slim 32-31 edge in ground balls over Tusculum, led by four from Socia. Tusculum's Connor Coleman and Braden Elam shared the team high in ground balls for the Pioneers with six each. Tusculum finished with 21 turnovers, with eight caused by the Saints, while Maryville had 19 turnovers with eight caused by the Pioneers. Tusculum ended the game 19-for-23 on clears, while Maryville was 23-for-26. Maryville won eight faceoffs to seven by Tusculum.
Tusculum goalkeeper Ross Geiger finished with nine saves, while Maryville's William DeVinney had eight of his 12 saves in the first half.
The Pioneers will return to action on Sunday, Feb. 23 at 5 p.m. at home against Lees-McRae, in a match moved to Pioneer Field from Banner Elk, North Carolina due to field conditions.
