GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Coker University held off Tusculum University for a 13-10 victory in South Atlantic Conference men's lacrosse Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Field.
The Pioneers (1-12, 0-8 SAC) trailed by as many as five goals to the Cobras (6-6, 4-3 SAC) before pulling within two a total of three times in the second half. Wesley Phillips led Tusculum with two goals and six assists while Clay Mendez and Ben Hobday each had three goals for the Pioneers.
Chase Penner added two goals for Tusculum, which was outshot 47-33 by Coker but had a 33-25 ground ball edge and a 17-9 advantage on faceoffs. Senior Nick Adams, making his first career start for the Pioneers, collected 18 saves in goal.
Zyaire Marshall led Coker with five goals, Elijah Utz scored three goals and Augie Ford had two goals and an assist for the Cobras, who scored six straight goals from the end of the first quarter to the start of the third to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 7-3 lead.
Phillips opened the scoring 51 seconds into the first quarter, but Utz tied the game at 1-1 just over a minute later. Goals from Mendez and Hobday stretched the Pioneer lead to 3-1 with 4:55 left in the opening period, before a goal from Ford brought Coker back within 3-2 after one.
Coker scored all four goals in the second quarter, with three coming in a span of 1:33 early in the period. Marshall stretched the Cobras' lead to 6-3 at halftime on his goal with 4:03 remaining.
Another goal from Marshall gave Coker a 7-3 lead early in the third, but Mendez and Hobday scored 13 seconds apart to cut the margin to 7-5 with 9:05 left. Coker scored three in a row to take its largest lead at 10-5 with 1:36 left in the period, and an exchange of goals from Mendez and Marshall in the final 30 seconds left the Cobras up 11-6 entering the fourth.
Tusculum rallied in the final quarter, with goals from Phillips, Penner and Hobday in just over three minutes to cut the Coker lead to 11-9 with 9:26 to play. Ford scored 25 seconds later to put the Cobras back up by three, but Penner responded 10 seconds after that to leave the Pioneers facing a 12-10 deficit. Tusculum would not score again, however, and Utz collected an insurance goal with 4:12 left to set the final.
Nathan Fraser went 13-for-17 on faceoffs for the Pioneers and finished with seven ground balls, while Phillips and Blake Harrison each had four ground balls. Faceoff men Brennon Madonia and Lennon Connolly each had three ground balls to lead the Cobras' field players.
Adams made 10 of his 18 saves in the second quarter, when the Pioneers were outshot by an 18-5 margin. Tusculum was outshot by Coker 28-11 in the first half, but the Pioneers turned it around to a 22-19 shot advantage in the second half.
Ethan Hofert played all 60 minutes in goal for the Cobras and finished with 16 saves, 10 of which came in the second half. Coker was 27-for-30 on clears in the match while Tusculum went 21-for-24.
Both teams came up empty with the man advantage, with Tusculum finishing 0-for-2 and Coker going 0-for-3. The Pioneers turned the ball over 21 times on the afternoon, with 16 turnovers by the Cobras.
Tusculum will host defending national champion Lenoir-Rhyne in its final home game of the season on Saturday, April 6 beginning at 1 p.m. at Pioneer Field.
