HUNTSVILLE, Ala. --- David Friend scored five goals and Pete Fabrizio scored four second-half goals to lead the University of Alabama Huntsville to an 18-9 victory over Tusculum University in non-conference men's lacrosse Friday night at Charger Park.
Nine different players had goals for the Chargers (2-1), who scored eight of the final 10 goals of the match after the Pioneers had moved within 10-7 midway through the third quarter. The Chargers caused 16 of the Pioneers' 30 turnovers and allowed just 14 shots on goal.
Ben Royer had two goals and two assists and Chase Penner scored twice for the Pioneers (0-2), who were outshot 63-22 by the Chargers in the match. Wesley Phillips had a goal and an assist, Clay Mendez dished out two assists and Nicholas Drennan, Bauer Swystun, Bryce Grimball and Ben Hobday also had goals for the Pioneers.
Friend scored three goals in the first quarter to help the Chargers build an early 4-1 lead. Tusculum's lone goal of the period came from Penner five minutes into the contest.
Goals from Hobday with the man advantage and from Grimball brought the Pioneers within 4-3 just 2 1/2 minutes into the second quarter, but Alabama Huntsville scored twice in 37 seconds to go up 6-3 with 7:44 left in the half. Swystun responded 24 seconds after the sixth UAH goal, but Ian Arnt responded 28 seconds after Swystun to give the Chargers a 7-4 lead with 6:52 remaining. Trailing 8-4, the Pioneers gained some much-needed momentum as Phillips scored with one second to play to cut the deficit to 8-5 at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Pioneers pulled within 8-6 on a man-down goal from Drennan just about three minutes into the frame. However, goals from Will Ford and Friend stretched the Chargers' lead back to 10-6 with 10:39 left. Royer connected about a minute after Friend's goal to bring Tusculum back within 10-7, but Fabrizio scored three times in a span of 2:09 for a 13-7 UAH lead with 1:23 remaining in the third quarter.
Royer scored seven seconds into the fourth quarter to cut the Chargers' lead to 13-8, but UAH would score five of the final six goals. Tusculum's last goal came with the man advantage as Penner converted with 6:47 left to make it a 15-9 game.
Riley Vlach led the Pioneer defense with five ground balls and two caused turnovers, while Drennan had four ground balls and two caused turnovers. Nathan Fraser had eight faceoff wins for the Pioneers and Drake Vance won four faceoffs.
For the Chargers, Will Bond had a game-high four caused turnovers and Sam Coffee had three ground balls and three caused turnovers. Ty Cassidy won 10 faceoffs and collected five ground balls, while Richie Mohr had eight faceoff wins and three ground balls.
Tusculum was 2-for-8 with the man advantage in the contest, while Alabama Huntsville went 1-for-6 with the extra man. UAH led in ground balls by a 48-31 margin and was 20-for-27 on clears while the Pioneers were 22-for-29.
Both goalkeepers played the entire match, with Tusculum's Brenden Pecora finishing with 21 saves and UAH's Tommy Peer making four stops. The 21 saves for Pecora are tied for the third-most in a game in program history.
Tusculum will conclude its two-game swing through Alabama on Sunday when the Pioneers visit Montevallo for 1 p.m. Eastern (noon local) start. The Falcons (1-1), ranked 20th in this week's USILA Division II poll, opened the season against two ranked opponents, including a 19-18 overtime win against seventh-ranked Florida Southern last Saturday.
