GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- After a busy start to the 2020 season, the Tusculum University women's lacrosse team takes the field just once this week as the Pioneers travel to Charlotte on Saturday to face conference and national power Queens University.
The Pioneers (3-3, 1-0 SAC) won their South Atlantic Conference opener this past Saturday with a thrilling 12-11 victory at Newberry, scoring three goals in the final 90 seconds to secure the win after seeing a four-goal lead disappear in the second half.
Saturday's game starts at 1 p.m. and is the second of three straight on the road, with the Pioneers' next home game scheduled for Saturday, March 21 against Mars Hill. Tusculum is 2-1 at home and 1-2 at road/neutral sites through its first six matches.
RECAPPING THE WEEK
Juliette Cusano scored the winning goal with 14 seconds left as the Pioneers overcame an 11-9 deficit to beat Newberry 12-11 on Saturday. Tia Tuininga scored the tying goal with 57 seconds remaining as the Pioneers did not allow the Wolves to gain possession after Newberry went up 11-9 with two minutes left.
Emily Youngblood and Tuininga had four goals apiece in the win, while Cusano scored three times to increase her career total to 138, one shy of the program record of 139 goals set by Savannah Elliott from 2015-18. Cusano also had seven draw controls and Youngblood added five, while Caroline Monroe had 14 saves in her first career start to earn the win.
LOOKING AHEAD
Queens (5-0, 1-0 SAC) opened its league schedule with a 27-0 shutout of Coker Friday evening on the road. A total of 14 different players scored goals for the Royals, including four apiece from Rachel Perrett and Kara Blanchard. Queens outshot Coker 41-1 and forced the Cobras into 21 turnovers, while controlling 23 of the 27 draws. Ally Blood had three goals and four assists and was honored as the SAC Offensive Player of the Week.
The Royals have risen to number one in the US Lacrosse Magazine poll and to third in the IWLCA Division II poll, with wins over Belmont Abbey (23-7) and seventh-ranked Florida Southern (15-14) earlier this season. Queens has scored more than 20 goals in a game three times this season, and the Royals lead the SAC in goals per game (21.40), draw controls per game (17.4) and goals against average (6.60).
Blanchard is the leading scorer for Queens with 18 goals, with 15 apiece from Blood and Kyleigh Masteran. Blood is tied for second in the conference in points (30) and is third in assists with 15. Perrett tops the Royals with 23 draw controls to rank eighth in the conference, while goalkeeper Chase Brokaw has a 7.87 goals against average and a .554 save percentage, both best in the league.
Queens, which has won all six SAC Championship tournament title since the first in 2014, is 6-0 all-time against Tusculum and 46-1 against all SAC opponents. The Royals have outscored the Pioneers by an average of 23-7 in their six previous meetings, including a 24-5 win at Tusculum last season, and have scored at least 21 goals in all six contests.
LEADER BOARD
Cusano is tied for third in the SAC with 24 goals, and has scored at least one goal in 39 consecutive matches dating back to the final two games of her freshman season in 2017. She is seven draw controls shy of becoming the second player in program history to record 200 draw controls, and she ranks fourth in the SAC with 28 so far this season. Cusano is fourth in the conference with 13 caused turnovers, and third in free-position goals with 10 in 13 attempts.
Tuininga has 19 goals to tie for eighth in the SAC through six games of her freshman season, and senior Eliza Ryan is fifth in caused turnovers with 11 and 12th in ground balls with 18. Junior Kate Pipkin ranks fourth in the league with 41 saves and sixth in save percentage at .414, while Monroe is second in save percentage at an even 50 percent.
As a team, the Pioneers are third in draw controls at 14.0 per game, and rank third in overall save percentage at .439. Tusculum ranks fourth in scoring offense at 13.67 goals per game, and is fourth in goals against average at 13.00 through six matches.
FOLLOW THE GAMES
Links to live stats and video for Tusculum University athletic events can be found through tusculumpioneers.com.
