TIGERVILLE, S.C. --- Chris Carpenter scored the tiebreaking goal with 41 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to lift North Greenville University to a 9-8 victory over Tusculum College in non-conference men's lacrosse action Saturday afternoon.
The Crusaders (2-2) led the Pioneers (0-3) by an 8-4 score early in the fourth quarter, but Tusculum came back to tie the score at 8-8 on a goal by Ben Boyd with 4:59 remaining. However, North Greeneville would take the final six shots of the match, with the last one giving Carpenter a game-high three goals and the Crusaders the victory.
Boyd finished with two goals for the Pioneers, along with Tyler Klarner and Dallas Wade. All three scored during the Pioneers' fourth-quarter rally, as did Nate Wade whose goal cut the North Greenville lead to 8-6 with 9:15 remaining.
Tusculum scored the only goal of the first quarter as Andrew Kransberger found the net just 1:28 into the game. However, North Greenville scored three unanswered goals in the first half of the second quarter to take a 3-1 lead. A goal by Boyd would cut the Crusader margin to 3-2 with 5:58 remaining in the half, and Carpenter and Dallas Wade would exchange goals before North Greenville's Sean Lemay scored with nine seconds left to give the Crusaders a 5-3 lead at the half.
Klarner netted a goal early in the third quarter to trim the deficit to 5-4, but two goals from the Crusaders' Alex Proly gave North Greenville a 7-4 lead entering the final 15 minutes. Ethan Landreth scored early in the fourth quarter to extend the Crusaders' lead to 8-4, but Dallas Wade scored with the man up with 10:43 left to kickstart the Pioneer comeback.
Nate Wade's goal with 9:15 left cut the North Greenville lead to 8-6 off an assist by Ross Parsons, and Klarner scored unassisted with 6:38 remaining to bring the Pioneers within 8-7. The Pioneers gained possession off the faceoff, and Boyd fired home the game-tying goal with 4:59 on the clock.
North Greenville finished the match with a 31-29 advantage in shots over Tusculum, while the Crusaders had 35 ground balls to 18 by the Pioneers. North Greenville won 13 of the game's 21 faceoffs, but the Pioneers were successful on the only man-up opportunity in the contest.
Defensively, the Pioneers were led by Jake Smith who had five ground balls and three caused turnovers. Parsons and Mitch Chapman also had three caused turnovers for the Pioneers, who forced the Crusaders into 16 miscues in the match. Jalen Bell led North Greenville with 11 ground balls on the strength of a 13-for-21 performance at the faceoff dot. Proly had seven ground balls and Carpenter added four for the Crusaders.
In goal, Kevin Haggerty finished with 10 saves for the Pioneers, including four in the fourth quarter, while Matthew Sandoval made six stops for the Crusaders.
The Pioneers return to action next Saturday, March 5 with a noon start at Brevard in their South Atlantic Conference opener.
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