GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University women's lacrosse team will celebrate Senior Day when the Pioneers host Coker University for a South Atlantic Conference contest on Saturday, April 9 at Pioneer Field.
Eight members of the Pioneer squad will be recognized before Tusculum (3-8, 0-5 SAC) takes on Coker at 1 p.m. Honorees include seniors Harley Smith, Emily Youngblood, Jessica Spiegel, Leighann Yudin, and Taylor Floyd, along with fifth-year players Megann McKinney, Bethany Thomas and Kate Pipkin.
Tusculum will look to return to the win column after three consecutive losses, including a 25-6 setback to number-one Queens on Saturday. The Pioneers' six goals were the second-most allowed by the Royals in six conference games this season.
PROFILING THE PIONEERS
The Pioneers have dropped six of their last seven games and have scored a total of 21 goals in their last three contests, with two of the games against the top two defenses in the SAC in Limestone and Queens. Tusculum is averaging 20.0 goals per game in its three wins and 8.0 goals per game in its eight losses.
Junior attack Tia Tuininga continues to pace the Pioneer offense with 35 goals and 14 assists for 49 points. She ranks ninth in the SAC in goals and seventh in points, and is fifth in the conference with 63 shots on goal. Tuininga is up to 71 career goals to rank seventh in program history, and is eighth in school history with 89 points. She is one point away from becoming the 10th player in school history to reach 50 points in a season, and needs five goals to become the ninth Pioneer to score 40 in a year.
Junior midfielder Kylie Marek and sophomore attack Lucy Brewer are tied for second on the team with 21 goals apiece and share the team lead with 40 draw controls, which is tied for 11th in the conference. Marek has scored in six straight games and was 3-for-3 on shot attempts against Queens. Youngblood has added 14 goals and is third on the team with 28 draw controls.
On defense, Smith continues to lead the Pioneers in draw controls with 27 and caused turnovers with 13. Smith has at least one ground ball in all 11 games and was held without a caused turnover for the first time this season against Queens. Sophomore Morgan Correia has 19 ground balls, junior Kamryn McNeil has 16 ground balls and Thomas has collected seven ground balls.
Floyd has started the last eight games in goal for the Pioneers and has a 14.54 goals against average along with a .419 save percentage that ranks eighth in the conference. Floyd has made 83 saves to rank fifth in the league. Junior Caroline Monroe has appeared in seven games and has a 12.30 goals against average along with a .406 save percentage.
Tusculum is eighth in the SAC in goals per game at 11.27 and 10th in goals against average at 13.91. The Pioneers are fifth in the league in draw controls per game at 13.45, and continue to lead the SAC in shooting accuracy, with 83.3 percent of their shot attempts on target (220-for-264).
SCOUTING THE COBRAS
Coker (1-10, 0-6 SAC) enters Saturday's game with seven consecutive losses, including a 16-9 setback at Mars Hill last Saturday afternoon. The Cobras' lone win this season was an 11-8 non-conference win over St. Andrews on Feb. 18, one of two games this year that Coker reached double figures in goals.
Senior attack Hannah Shuren leads the Cobras with 32 points on 14 goals and 18 assists (sixth in the SAC), and has a pair of five-point games this season including two goals and three assists against Mars Hill. Senior attack Meagan Gallagher leads Coker with 25 goals (13th in the SAC) and has scored at least one goal in all 11 games including three straight four-goal games against Emmanuel, Lenoir-Rhyne and Wingate. Freshman Annabelle Chuilli is also in double figures in goals with 17, and leads the team with 30 draw controls and 11 caused turnovers.
Senior Amariah Lawson has chipped in with nine goals and is second on the team with 28 draw controls, while freshman Madeline Hart has 21 draw controls and 13 ground balls. Freshman Emma Rhines has picked up 18 ground balls to lead Coker field players.
Junior Abby Kellner has played every second in goal for the Cobras and has a 16.82 goals against average and a .441 save percentage, while leading the conference with 146 saves. Kellner has reached double figures in saves in each game, with a season-high 21 against Wingate and 20 against Lincoln Memorial.
Coker is last in the SAC in goals per game at 7.55 and in goals against average at 16.82, and is also last in the conference in ground balls (141) and caused turnovers (63).
Tusculum is 2-6 all-time against Coker, having lost each of the last two meetings on the road in 2019 (22-19) and 2021 (16-14). Tusculum's lone wins came by a 14-10 score at home in 2016 and 16-14 at home in 2018. Each of the last four meetings and five of the eight all-time contests have been decided by three goals or less, and with the largest-ever margin of victory at five goals in a 19-14 Coker win in 2017.
FOLLOW THE PIONEERS
Live stats are available for all home Tusculum University women's lacrosse matches. Links to stats and video for home and away matches are posted at tusculumpioneers.com.
