SALISBURY, N.C. --- Catawba College went on a 9-1 scoring run across the second and third quarters to pick up a 19-12 victory over Tusculum University in South Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse action Saturday afternoon at Shuford Stadium.
Isabella Lehr scored six goals and an assist, Colleen Green finished with three goals and three assists and Caroline Falcone scored three times for the Indians (8-7, 4-4 SAC), who outscored the Pioneers 12-4 over the second and third quarters and scored on six of their 11 free-position shots.
Tia Tuininga scored five goals and had an assist for the Pioneers (4-10, 1-7 SAC), becoming the seventh player in school history to reach 100 career points. Kamryn McNeil scored three goals, Lucy Brewer scored twice and Emily Youngblood and Jessica Spiegel each had a goal and an assist for the Pioneers, who committed 25 turnovers as a team to offset a 20-15 advantage in draw controls.
Lehr scored four times in the first half as Catawba went ahead 8-5 at halftime, then added two more in the third quarter as part of an eight-goal surge for the Indians in the period.
Tuininga increased her career totals to 85 goals and 19 assists for 104 points in 27 games for the Pioneers. Her 85 goals are sixth all-time at Tusculum and she ranks 10th in career assists. Tuininga has scored 49 goals this season, third-most in a season in program history, while her 64 points this year are fifth-most by a Pioneer.
Catawba took a 1-0 lead less than two minutes into the first quarter on a goal from Jade Williams, but McNeil scored twice in 10 seconds to give the Pioneers a 2-1 lead with 11:37 left in the quarter. A goal from the Indians' Lehr was answered by Spiegel with 5:39 remaining as the Pioneers went up 3-2, but Catawba responded with goals from Ella McCusker and Green in a 43-second span to regain the lead at 4-3. Tuininga responded with 55 seconds to play to tie the game at 4-4 after one quarter.
Lehr scored three of the four goals in the second quarter for the Indians, including two in a span of 59 seconds after Tuininga had brought the Pioneers within 6-5 with 2:49 to play in the quarter. Catawba carried an 8-5 lead into halftime.
In the third quarter, Catawba scored the first five goals in a stretch of 5 1/2 minutes to go ahead 13-5, as five different players netted goals for the Indians. Tuininga broke the run with her third of the day with 8:42 left in the third quarter, and added another with 6:55 remaining following a goal from the Indians' Gracie Hubbard. Brewer scored the final goal of the quarter with 1:57 left as Catawba carried a 16-8 lead into the fourth.
Another goal from Brewer made the Catawba lead 16-9 with 13:45 left, but the Indians would score three in a row to take their largest lead at 19-9 with 6:40 to play. Tusculum would score the final three goals in the last four minutes, with Youngblood, Tuininga and McNeil collecting goals for the Pioneers.
Tuininga had a career-high nine draw controls for the Pioneers, while Brewer finished with six. Morgan Correia led the Tusculum defense with four ground balls, with three apiece by Tuininga, Jadyn Gleason and Harley Smith. Catawba received a team-high six draw controls from Nicole English, while Falcone had seven ground balls and Erin Young added four along with three caused turnovers.
Tusculum finished the game 16-for-26 on clear attempts, while Catawba was 19-for-21 on clears. The Indians outshot the Pioneers 40-34 and had a 26-23 edge in ground balls.
Tusculum goalkeeper Taylor Floyd recorded a career-high 16 saves for the Pioneers, tied for the third-most in a game in program history, while Aryn Dorr had 12 saves in goal for the Indians.
The Pioneers will travel to UVA Wise to face the Cavaliers on Thursday, April 21 at 3 p.m. The Cavaliers lost 27-4 to top-ranked Queens on Saturday to drop to 5-9 overall and 2-6 in the SAC.
