MURFREESBORO, N.C. --- Tusculum University scored seven straight goals in the second half and went on to a 13-6 victory over Chowan University in men's lacrosse action Sunday afternoon at a rainy Garrison Stadium.
The Pioneers (2-0) received three goals and two assists from Braden Elam and three goals and an assist from Lorenz Brown while outshooting the Hawks (0-2) by a 49-27 margin.
Tusculum led 6-4 less than two minutes into the third quarter before running off seven unanswered goals over a span of more than 18 1/2 minutes. Elam had two goals and two assists during the run, which gave the Pioneers a 13-4 lead with 13:37 left.
Tristan Kirkham and Josh Pickford each scored a pair of goals for the Pioneers, while Jordan Daniel had a goal and an assist. Kale Lawrence and Luke Doehring each had one goal for the Pioneers, who went 16-for-22 on faceoffs and set a program single-game record with 60 ground balls as a team.
Eric George and Jackson Downs each had two goals for Chowan in the loss, with Alex Wildeboer contributing a goal and two assists. Erik Dozzi also scored for the Hawks, who were 3-for-7 with the man advantage.
Daniel opened the scoring five minutes into the first quarter for the Pioneers, but George tied the match just 39 seconds later. Pickford pushed the Pioneers ahead 2-1 with 7:38 left in the quarter, and goals from Brown and Elam, the latter beating the buzzer, in the final minute of the period gave the Pioneers a 4-1 lead after one.
Man-up goals from the Hawks' Downs and Dozzi three minutes apart cut the Tusculum lead to 4-3 with 9:19 left in the half, but Brown and Kirkham answered in a 76-second span as Tusculum carried a 6-3 lead to halftime.
Downs scored his second of the afternoon just over two minutes into the third quarter to cut the Tusculum lead to 6-4, before the Pioneers broke loose. Elam scored twice to extend Tusculum's lead to 8-4 with 9:47 left in the third quarter, and Lawrence pushed the Pioneers ahead 9-4 exactly three minutes later. Pickford, Kirkham and Brown then teamed up for goals separated by 82 seconds as the Pioneers led 12-4 entering the fourth.
Doehring converted with the man advantage 1:23 into the fourth quarter for a 13-4 Tusculum lead, and Wildeboer and George closed out the scoring for the Hawks in the final 8 1/2 minutes.
Andy Michalski went 13-for-16 on faceoffs for the Pioneers and had a team-high eight ground balls, with seven for Lawrence and five by Elam. Tanner Deck had a career-high four caused turnovers, tied for fourth-most in a single game in program history, and had four ground balls along with Doehring and Connor Coleman.
For Chowan, Dozzi led with seven ground balls with five apiece for George, Deven Roberts and Jaylen Pierre, who also had four caused turnovers in the match.
Ross Geiger started in goal for the Pioneers and made 11 saves before yielding to Nick Adams for the final two minutes, who made three saves in his Tusculum debut. Nathan Woodhill finished with 19 saves for Chowan in the loss.
Tusculum, which has won its first two games of the season for the first time since going 3-0 in its debut campaign of 2014, will open South Atlantic Conference play on Wednesday, Feb. 24 at Mars Hill beginning at 7 p.m.
