CLEVELAND, Tenn. --- Lee University defeated Tusculum University 19-8 in the 2022 women's lacrosse season opener for both teams Wednesday afternoon.
The Flames (1-0) led 12-6 at halftime and outshot the Pioneers (0-1) by a 37-20 margin. Dariana Blanton led the Flames with seven goals and two assists, while Avery Schenk had three goals and three assists.
For the Pioneers, Tia Tuininga scored four goals and had an assist, with a goal and an assist from Kylie Marek. Lucy Brewer, Jessica Spiegel and Emily Youngblood also scored for the Pioneers, while Chloe Michalski had an assist along with Marek and Tuininga. Wednesday's game was the debut for first-year head coach Jenna Agostino at Tusculum.
Schenk scored the first goal of the match 3:10 into the first quarter, but Brewer tied the game off an assist by Tuininga just under a minute later. Blanton would score three times during a 4-0 Flames run for a 5-1 lead with 3:13 left in the quarter, but Tuininga scored to pull the Pioneers within 5-2 with 2:!5 left. Hannah Vecsey scored just before time expired in the quarter as Lee led 6-2 after one period.
Tusculum came back with a pair of goals in a span of 40 seconds, as Tuininga and Spiegel teamed to pull the Pioneers within 6-4 with 12:58 left in the half. Four straight goals from the Flames pushed the Lee advantage to 10-4 with 5:40 remaining in the half, but Tuininga and Marek responded to bring the Pioneers back within 10-6 with 4:44 to go. Goals from Blanton and Megan Trout in the final two minutes gave Lee a 12-6 halftime lead.
The Flames stretched their lead to 15-6 with 8:38 left in the third quarter before Youngblood snapped a five-goal run with 4:53 to go. Goals from Blanton and Shayna Ryan pushed Lee back in front 17-7 with 2:18 remaining in the quarter, and Tuininga got her fourth of the day with 14 seconds left to slice the Lee lead to 17-8 heading to the final quarter.
Lee scored both goals in the fourth quarter, with a tally from Schenk with 7:05 left closing out the scoring in the match. The Flames outshot the Pioneers 15-6 in the second half and won eight of 11 draws after hlaftime.
Mark paced the Pioneers with six draw controls, while Youngblood and Brewer had three apiece. Bethany Thomas led the Tusculum defense with a pair of caused turnovers and three ground balls, which matched Brewer for the team lead in ground balls.
For Lee, Brittney White had 12 draw controls and four different players had three ground balls apiece. Hannah Nee and Kelsey McGowen paced the Flames with two caused turnovers. Blanton's seven goals came on 10 shot attempts, with nine on goal.
Both teams used two goalkeepers in the match, with Caroline Monroe making five saves in the first half for Tusculum and Taylor Floyd seven in the second half. Lee starter Kaleigh Bernard had five saves in the opening half, and Caleigh Smith made three stops in the second half.
The Pioneers will return to the road to face North Greenville on Wednesday, Feb. 16 before playing their home opener against Chowan on Saturday, Feb. 19.
