SALISBURY, N.C. --- Ben Boyd scored a season-high four goals and Chris Ryan had two goals and two assists as Tusculum College built an early lead and went on to defeat Catawba College 11-6 in South Atlantic Conference men's lacrosse action Saturday night at Shuford Stadium.
Boyd and Dallas Wade each scored goals with one second left in a quarter for the Pioneers (3-5, 2-1 SAC), who led 6-1 at halftime and held off the Indians in the fourth quarter for the victory.
Liam Lynch scored two goals for the Indians (3-5, 2-2 SAC) who lost despite outshooting the Pioneers 33-27 and winning 16 of the 17 faceoffs in the game. Catawba committed 15 turnovers as a team and committed 10 penalties which led to seven man-up opportunities for the Pioneers.
Nate Wade and Dallas Wade each finished with two goals for the Pioneers, with Andrew Kransberger dishing out two assists and Tyler Klarner adding a goal. Four players finished with a goal apiece for the Indians, with Chase Scott adding an assist to go along with a second-quarter goal.
Tusculum took a 2-0 lead midway through the first quarter on goals by Dallas Wade and Ryan 51 seconds apart. Boyd added his first of the game to give the Pioneers a 3-0 lead with 5:42 left in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Nate Wade and Klarner tallied 36 seconds apart to extend the Pioneer lead to 5-0 before Scott put the Indians on the board with 10:09 to play in the half. Dallas Wade then scored with one second left to send the Pioneers to the half with a 6-1 lead. Tusculum outshot Catawba 15-13 in the first half and had 13 ground balls to 11 for the Indians.
Lynch cut the Tusculum lead to 6-2 with 7:12 remaining in the third quarter, but Boyd scored with 3:58 left for a 7-2 Pioneer lead. His third of the game came with Tusculum a man down and with one second left in the third quarter, sending the Pioneers to the fourth quarter with an 8-2 advantage.
Catawba put on the pressure in the fourth quarter, outshooting Tusculum 13-7, but could only outscore the Pioneers by a 4-3 margin. Nate Wade scored early in the period for a 9-3 Tusculum lead, then Ryan netted his second of the night with 10:35 left to push the Pioneers on top 10-4. Boyd's fourth of the game with 5:38 left gave Tusculum an 11-5 lead, before Joe Barber capped the scoring for Catawba with 5:25 remaining.
Boyd finished with four ground balls for the Pioneers, sharing the team high with Jake Smith, Sean Kidder and goalkeeper Kevin Haggerty. Connor Eakes had a game-high nine ground balls for the Indians, keyed by a 16-1 record at the faceoff dot. Barber added five ground balls for Catawba while Lynch had three.
Haggerty finished with 12 saves for the Pioneers, marking the seventh time in eight games this season that he has reached double figures in saves. Ryan Applegate had 13 saves between the pipes for the Indians.
Tusculum returns home on Wednesday when they welcome Lincoln Memorial to Pioneer Field for a 7 p.m. start.
- TC -
