GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Defending NCAA Division II national champion Lenoir-Rhyne University defeated Tusculum University 19-3 in South Atlantic Conference men's lacrosse Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Field.
The second-ranked Bears (11-1, 6-1 SAC) scored 16 unanswered goals over a span of 43 minutes and outshot the Pioneers (1-13, 0-9 SAC) by a 48-16 margin in the match. Lenoir-Rhyne held a 21-5 edge in faceoffs over Tusculum and collected 49 ground balls to 21 for the Pioneers.
Donovan Powell led the Bears with three goals and three assists, with three goals from Nate Serrano and two goals and an assists from both Will Canata and Sloan Steward. A total of 13 different players scored goals for the Bears in the match.
TJ Caldwell led the Pioneers with a goal and an assist, with a goal each from Ben Hobday and Austin Wallace. The Pioneers went 1-for-4 with the extra man while the Bears were 2-for-3 with the man up.
The Bears went up 1-0 after 50 seconds on a goal from Jonathan Bender, but the Pioneers knotted the score two minutes later as Hobday found the net. From there, Lenoir-Rhyne would score six straight goals in a span of just over six minutes to go ahead 7-1 after one quarter.
Lenoir-Rhyne scored five more goals in the second quarter and four in the third to build a 16-1 lead after three quarters. Tusculum would break through with 9:03 remaining on a man-up goal from Caldwell, and Wallace scored off a loose ball with 7:52 remaining for the Pioneers.
Bryce Grimball and Nolan Ross each had three ground balls and two caused turnovers to lead the Pioneers, while faceoff men Matthew Mancini and John Paulus combined to go 14-for-15 at the dot with 12 ground balls.
Brenden Pecora played the first half in goal for the Pioneers and made eight saves, while Nick Adams had seven saves in the second half. Five goalkeepers for the Bears combined for seven saves.
Tusculum will close its 2024 season with a road trip to Colorado next week. The Pioneers will take on Colorado State-Pueblo on Tuesday at 9 p.m. (Eastern) and Adams State on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. (Eastern).
