Nine different players scored goals as Queens University of
Charlotte defeated Tusculum College 16-9 in South Atlantic
Conference men's lacrosse action Saturday afternoon.
JT Thompson scored four goals and Garrett Chan had three goals and
two assists for the 12th-ranked Royals (8-4, 5-1 SAC), who outshot
the Pioneers (3-7, 2-3 SAC) by a 47-31 margin and broke a 3-3 tie
with five unanswered goals over a span of 15 minutes in the first
half.
Chris Ryan and Dallas Wade scored three goals apiece for the
Pioneers, with Nate Wade, Ben Boyd and Keegan Bell adding one goal
apiece. Andrew Kransberger had two assists for the Pioneers, while
goalkeeper Kevin Haggerty had a career-best 19 saves in goal.
Queens took a 3-0 lead just over five minutes into the game on two
goals from Chan and one from Jack Smith, but the Pioneers came back
with three in a row of their own. Bell got Tusculum on the board on
a goal with 8:20 left in the first quarter, then Dallas Wade scored
twice in 23 seconds to tie the game at 3-3 with 5:34 to play in the
period. Jesse Oliver scored just 13 seconds after Wade's second
goal to give the Royals a 4-3 lead that they would carry into the
second quarter.
In the second quarter, Queens scored four straight goals to go on
top 8-3, with Thompson netting the final two goals of the run.
Ryan's first goal of the day brought the Pioneers within 8-4 with
4:12 to play in the half, and an exchange of goals from the Royals'
Garrett Sadler and Boyd left Queens with a 9-5 lead at the
half.
The Royals expanded their lead to 12-5 on three goals in the first
half of the third quarter, before Ryan netted his second goal of
the day with 5:33 remaining in the period. Queens led 12-6 entering
the fourth quarter, and scored four times in the final frame while
the Pioneers received goals from Ryan, Dallas Wade and Nate
Wade.
On defense, Ross Parsons led the Pioneers with four ground balls
while Charles Mills had three ground balls. Jonathan Paige led
Queens with seven ground balls after going 17-for-20 at the faceoff
dot, while Nick Carlson and Spencer Corkery had five ground balls
apiece for the Royals.
Haggerty's 19 saves broke his season high of 15 saves set at Tampa
on Feb. 14 and marked the ninth time in 10 games this season that
he has reached double figures in saves. His previous career high in
saves was 17 set at Lincoln Memorial on March 17 of last season.
Eric Dolan played all 60 minutes in goal for the Royals and
finished with 12 saves, including nine in the second half.
Tusculum will be back home on Saturday, April 9 when the Pioneers
welcome Coker to Pioneer Field for a 3 p.m. South Atlantic
Conference matchup.
