GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- 21st-ranked Limestone University pulled away in the second half to pick up a 16-8 victory over Tusculum University in South Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse action Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Field.
Sarah Dudick scored five goals, Shannon Creagh scored four times and Elizabeth Muscella had two goals and two assists for the Saints (7-3, 3-1 SAC), who won their fourth straight game by outshooting the Pioneers 37-23 for the contest and outscoring Tusculum 6-1 over the final 20 minutes.
Lucy Brewer had four goals and an assist for the Pioneers (3-7, 0-4 SAC), who trailed 4-0 after six minutes but hung tough with the nationally-ranked Saints into the fourth quarter. Tia Tuininga had two goals and two assists and Kylie Marek and Kamryn McNeil also scored for the Pioneers, who were just 1-for-6 on free-position shots while Limestone was 6-for-9 as a team.
The Saints opened the scoring 51 seconds into the first quarter on a free-position goal from Megan Davis, and added goals from Creigh, Dudick and Jenna Kiley to go ahead 4-0 with 9:20 left in the period. Tusculum got on the board with 3:22 left in the quarter on a free-position goal from Tuininga, and Brewer added one with 46 seconds left as the Pioneers trailed 4-2 after one period.
Limestone stretched its lead back to four at 6-2 on free-position goals from Gracie DePaul and Kiley in the first 5 1/2 minutes of the second quarter, but two goals in eight seconds from Tuininga and Marek cut the Saints' lead to 6-4 with 4:29 to go in the half. Creagh scored just over a minute later after a Tusculum goal was disallowed, sending the Saints to the half with a 7-4 lead.
The Saints slowly built their lead in the third quarter, going up 9-4 on goals from Dudick and Creagh, but Brewer cut the margin to 9-5 with 10:25 left in the period. Another goal from Dudick put the Saints ahead 10-5 with 9:11 left, but Brewer assisted on a goal from McNeil and followed with her third of the game to pull the Pioneers within 10-7 with 5:24 remaining in the third. However, Tusculum would score just once more and go just over 15 minutes without scoring.
A goal from DePaul with 4:18 left in the third gave Limestone an 11-7 lead, and Dudick's fourth of the game with 24 seconds to play put Limestone up 12-7 heading to the fourth. In the final quarter, Muscella scored twice and Dudick once for a 15-7 Saints lead with 7:03 left, before Brewer broke the Pioneer drought with 5:15 remaining. Creagh closed the scoring 13 seconds later as the teams played out the final five minutes with no goals.
Brewer led the Pioneers with six draw controls, while Marek had four draw controls along with three ground balls and three caused turnovers. Jessica Spiegel had four ground balls for the Pioneers and Emily Youngblood collected three. For Limestone, Muscella had six draw controls and Bailey Stumpf had five to go along with two ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Tusculum was 18-for-24 on clears and turned the ball over 17 times, while Limestone was 20-for-23 on clears with 18 turnovers. The Pioneers had a 15-10 edge in ground balls, though the Saints had a 17-11 advantage in draw controls in the match.
Taylor Floyd finished with 12 saves in goal for the Pioneers, with Madelyn DeSoto tallying 11 stops for the Saints. DeSoto made seven of her 11 saves in the second half, while Floyd had seven of her 12 saves in the first quarter.
Tusculum will head to the road for a pair of matches next week, starting Wednesday at UVA Wise at 5 p.m. The Cavaliers (3-5, 0-2 SAC) bring a four-game losing streak into a road match at Catawba on Sunday.
