GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's lacrosse team returns from a 10-day layoff with a pair of road matches this week, as the Pioneers visit Mars Hill for their South Atlantic Conference opener on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and Lees-McRae for a non-conference match at noon on Saturday.
The Pioneers (2-0) opened the season with a pair of victories, defeating Alderson Broaddus 14-5 in their season opener on Feb. 6 and beating Chowan 13-6 on Feb. 14. Tusculum is playing its first four matches away from home, with the first home contest against Newberry on Saturday, March 6.
Tusculum is 2-0 for the first time since the program's debut season of 2014, when the Pioneers went 3-0 to start the season with wins over Ohio Valley, Lees-McRae and Young Harris. The Pioneers are receiving votes in this week's United State Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Division II poll, along with five SAC teams inside the top 20.
PIONEER UPDATE
Senior attack Braden Elam is off to a quick start with six goals and four assists for 10 points in two matches. Elam is third in the SAC in assists and eighth in points, having posted identical totals of three goals and two assists in each of the first two games for the Pioneers. Senior midfielder Lorenz Brown and junior attack Kale Lawrence have four goals each, with Lawrence also claiming nine ground balls, while four players are tied with three goals each.
Tusculum has been dominant on faceoffs, winning 81.8 percent (36-for-44) to lead Division II. Individually, the Pioneers have the top two faceoff men in the country as Andy Michalski is at 85 percent (17-for-20) followed by junior Nathan Fraser at 78.9 percent (15-for-19). Fraser is third in the conference in ground balls per game (7.0), and senior defender Connor Coleman is among the conference leaders with a team-high five caused turnovers to go along with eight ground balls. Junior goalkeeper Ross Geiger is third in the conference in goals against average at 5.60, and ranks fifth in save percentage at .577.
Through two games, the Pioneers lead the SAC and rank fourth in Division II in scoring defense (5.5 goals per game) and are second nationally with a SAC-best 47.5 ground balls per contest.
SCOUTING THE LIONS
Mars Hill (1-2, 0-1 SAC) opened its season with a 14-10 win over Lees-McRae, then lost 21-5 to conference newcomer Limestone in their SAC opener on Feb. 13. On Saturday, the Lions beat Shorter 11-9 on the road as they broke a 7-7 tie with four goals in the final quarter.
Junior Zac Carrigan leads the Lions with a SAC-best 12 goals and ranks third in Division II with 4.0 goals per game. He scored six goals in the season opener against Lees-McRae and tallied four times in the Shorter victory, and leads DII with four man-up goals through three games. Senior Brandon Beland has scored eight goals and leads the Lions with four assists for 12 points. As a team, the Lions are 6-for-15 (40 percent) with the man advantage.
Senior Frankie Villeneuve has been the top faceoff performer for Mars Hill at 31-for-53 (58.5 percent) to go along with a team-high 16 ground balls. Senior Corbett Kolb leads the Lion defense with three caused turnovers, while in goal freshman Steven Smith has made 34 saves while playing 11 of the 12 quarters.
The Pioneers are 4-2 all-time against the Lions, with four consecutive victories including a 15-13 road win in their last matchup in 2019.
SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
Lees-McRae (0-3) dropped its season opener in overtime to Alabama Huntsville 11-10 on Feb. 6, then traveled to Mars Hill on Feb. 10 for a 14-10 setback. The Bobcats' last match was a 15-7 home loss to Newberry on Feb. 17
Midfielder Ryan Beauchamp has a pair of three-goal games to his credit and leads the Bobcats with eight goals and two assists for 10 points. Senior midfielder Mike Moore has six goals and three assists for nine points, and senior attack Jonathan Barry has a goal and a team-high five assists for six points.
Leading the defense is sophomore Jacob Zellen who ranks 10th nationally with 6.33 ground balls per game, while senior Ben Davidson is fourth in Division II with a Conference Carolinas-leading 3.0 caused turnovers per game. Junior goalkeeper Antonio Cruz has started all three matches and has made 26 saves.
Tusculum beat Lees-McRae 19-5 at home last season and owns a 3-0 lead in the all-time series.
COVID-19 PROTOCOLS
Visiting fans are not permitted at home men's lacrosse games for Mars Hill or Lees-McRae during the 2021 season. Links to live video and live stats feeds are posted at TusculumPioneers.com.
