Andrew Kransberger tallied three goals and two assists and the Tusculum College defense shut out Brevard College in the second half in a 13-6 victory in the South Atlantic Conference opener for both teams Saturday afternoon.

Ben Boyd, Chris Ryan and Keegan Bell each had two goals for the Pioneers (1-3, 1-0 SAC), who outscored the Tornados (0-6, 0-1 SAC) by a 6-0 margin in the second half to come away with the victory. Mitch Chapman added a goal and two assists for the Pioneers, while goalie Kevin Haggerty made seven of his 13 saves in the second half.

Brevard received two goals apiece from Anthony Alfonso and Jackson McKaig, but managed just one shot in the third quarter and seven more in the fourth after registering 19 shots in the opening half.

Tusculum trailed 3-1 midway through the first quarter as Bell had the Pioneers' lone tally just 1:40 into the contest. However, Tyler Klarner scored a man-up goal to bring the Pioneers with 3-2 before Kransberger netted the equalizer with 2:41 remaining in the opening quarter.

Goals from Nate Wade and Ryan helped the Pioneers build a 5-3 lead, and Boyd added a pair of goals after the Tornados had pulled within 5-4 and 6-5. Tusculum lead 7-6 at the half despite trailing 19-17 in shots and 24-20 in ground balls. Brevard also had a 13-2 edge in faceoffs in the first half.

From there, it was all Pioneers as Jake Smith gave Tusculum a 9-6 lead less than three minutes into the third quarter, followed by Bell's second of the day with just over four minutes gone. Kransberger and Ryan each added their second goals of the afternoon in the final three minutes of the third quarter as the Pioneers built an 11-6 lead.

In the fourth quarter, neither team would find the net until Chapman tallied with 1:52 remaining. Kransberger's third of the day came with 1:04 left and set the final score of 13-6.

Dallas Wade led the Pioneers with seven ground balls in the contests, while Smith, Ross Parsons and Kransberger had five apiece. Parsons also had three caused turnovers for the Pioneers, who force the Tornados into eight of their 19 miscues in the match.

Brevard was led on defense by Natron Curtis, who had six ground balls on the strength of a 15-for-23 performance on faceoffs. Alfonso, Mathew Dropuljic and Dennis Rammacher had five ground balls apiece for the Tornados, with Rammacher adding a team-high three caused turnovers.

Tusculum finished 1-for-3 on the man advantage while Brevard was unsuccessful on its only extra-man opportunity. The Pioneers outshot the Tornados 31-27 but Brevard had a 40-34 edge in ground balls in the match.

Haggerty's 13 saves mark the fourth time in as many matches this season he has reached double figures in saves. Colton Girard had 10 saves in goal for the Tornados, including six in the second half.

The Pioneers travel to Ohio to face Walsh University in a non-conference match on Tuesday afternoon at 2 p.m.