GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's lacrosse team opens its South Atlantic Conference schedule on the road against Newberry College on Saturday, March 7 at 7 p.m. in Newberry, South Carolina.
The Pioneers (2-3) ended a three-game homestand with a 9-8 overtime loss to Alabama Huntsville on Saturday at Pioneer Field. Tusculum last played on the road at top-ranked Limestone on Feb. 14, losing 18-7 to the Saints.
Tusculum will play its first three conference games on the road, visiting Queens on Saturday, March 14 and Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday, March 18 before hosting Mars Hill on Saturday, March 21. The Pioneers have a home non-conference match with Quincy on Tuesday, March 10.
RECAPPING THE WEEK
Josh Campbell scored 2:54 into overtime and the Alabama Huntsville defense held Tusculum to one goal in the final 40 minutes of regulation as the Chargers defeated the Pioneers 9-8 in overtime Saturday at Pioneer Field.
The Chargers (2-2) trailed 7-3 with 10 minutes left in the second quarter, but rallied to take an 8-7 lead on a goal by Kevin Coppinger with 1:12 remaining. The Pioneers (2-3) forced overtime on a goal by Lorenz Brown with 10 seconds left, but Campbell scored on the only shot attempt of overtime to give the Chargers the win.
Liam Macdonald and Kale Lawrence each scored two goals and added an assist for the Pioneers, while Brown had two goals and AJ Hems contributed a goal and an assist. Braden Elam also had a goal and Jordan Daniel finished with three assists for Tusculum, which outshot UAH 33-29 but were shut down by Charger keeper Zak Welsh, who had 18 saves in the match.
LOOKING AHEAD
Newberry (3-2) plays its conference opener after picking up a 24-6 win over Davis & Elkins on Tuesday night. The 24 goals by the Wolves were a program single-game record, with Scott Reed leading the way with three goals and three assists. Fifteen different players scored at least one goal for the Wolves, who led 9-0 after one quarter and 16-2 at halftime.
Zachary Sunderland leads the Wolves with 13 goals and is second to Reed in points with 20. Reed, who has 10 goals and ranks fifth in the SAC in assists with 12, has 22 points to rank eighth in the conference. Justin Messersmith, who has won 49 of 87 faceoffs for the Wolves, leads the team with 30 ground balls. Jahn Skinner-Ligon, one of six players to appear in goal for Newberry, has started all five matches and has 47 saves and a 11.71 goals against average.
As a team, the Wolves are third in the SAC with 14.4 goals per game and have scored 11 man-up goals in five matches at a 35.5 percent clip.
LEADER BOARD
Daniel leads the Pioneers in points through five matches, but is just tied for 20th in the SAC with 13 points (four goals, nine assists). Daniel and Macdonald are tied for sixth in the conference in assists with nine, while on defense Quinn McKitrick is tied for second in caused turnovers with nine. Goalkeeper Ross Geiger ranks third in the conference in goals against average at 9.67.
Tusculum is ranked eighth in the nine-team conference in goals per game at 10.40, but the Pioneers lead the conference in man-up offense at 50 percent (11-for-22). The Pioneer save percentage of 45.5 percent is next-to-last in the league, ahead of only Mars Hill (45.2 percent).
FOLLOW THE GAMES
Links to live stats and video for Tusculum University athletic events can be found through tusculumpioneers.com.
