GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's lacrosse team will look to get back in the win column this week as the Pioneers play a pair of South Atlantic Conference home games. The Pioneers will host first-year program Anderson on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and 16th-ranked Queens on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Pioneer Field.
The Pioneers (4-3, 1-3 SAC) dropped their second straight to a ranked opponent on Saturday with a 16-5 setback at 15th-ranked Limestone. Tusculum will be playing just its second and third home games of the season, having played six of its first seven contests on the road.
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
Tusculum trailed Limestone 5-3 after one quarter, but was held scoreless in the second and third quarters as the Saints ran off 10 unanswered goals. Senior midfielder Lorenz Brown led the Pioneers with two goals and sophomore midfielder Tristan Kirkham had a pair of assists in the game. Junior midfielder Sean Dunn also scored for the Pioneers, giving him a goal in each of the Pioneers' last five games. Kirkham, Dunn and Brown are the only players to score at least one point in each of the Pioneers' seven games.
Junior attackman Nate Raymond leads the Pioneers in scoring with 13 goals, followed by Brown with 12 and 10 apiece for Brown and junior attack Kale Lawrence. Senior attack Braden Elam continues to lead the Pioneers in assists with eight to go along with eight goals. Dunn and junior midfielder Jordan Daniel each have five goals and four assists for nine points.
Senior defender Connor Coleman ranks second in the SAC and 12th in Division II in caused turnovers per game, with an average of 2.71 per game. His 19 caused turnovers are tied for the fifth-most in a single-season in program history, four shy of the mark of 23 caused turnovers set by Mitch Chapman in 2014. Coleman has 50 career caused turnovers, ranking second in program history to Jake Smith who had 58 caused turnovers from 2014 to 2016.
Junior faceoff specialist Andy Michalski ranks fourth in the conference in winning percentage, at 60.7 percent (65-for-107), and leads the Pioneers with 37 ground balls. Junior Nathan Fraser is 29-for-51 (56.9 percent) on faceoffs and ranks third on the team with 21 ground balls. Junior goalkeeper Ross Geiger is fifth in the SAC with a 10.72 goals against average and ranks fourth in the league with 70 saves. His save percentage of 49.3 percent is fifth in the conference.
As a team, the Pioneers are fourth in the conference in goals against average at 10.43. Tusculum ranks fourth in the conference in man-up offense at 36 percent (9-for-25) and is eighth in scoring offense at 11.14 goals per game.
SCOUTING THE TROJANS
Anderson (4-4, 2-3 SAC) made its debut on Feb. 13 and beat Montevallo 14-13 in overtime in the first match in program history. The Trojans opened the year with a 4-1 record, with their lone loss coming by one goal at Barton, and included wins over Lincoln Memorial (15-4) and Mars Hill (28-11). Since then, the Trojans have dropped three straight with setbacks to Wingate on March 13 (20-8), Lenoir-Rhyne on March 17 (22-8) and Catawba last Saturday (18-10).
Freshman Isaiah Hines is the top scorer for the Trojans with 25 goals (third in the SAC) and nine assists for 34 points. Junior Ryley Zopfi has added 11 goals and a team-best 14 assists for 25 points, with Garrett Hawkins at 24 points on 15 goals and nine assists. Freshman Kaleb West is also in double figures in goals with 10.
Freshman Cam Weeks has excelled on faceoffs, ranking fifth in Division II and leading the SAC at 74.9 percent (167-for-223) while leading Division II with 16.0 ground balls per game. Weeks has had 12 or more ground balls in all eight contests, including 22 against Montevallo and 22 against Catawba. Weeks went 22-for-24 on faceoffs against Mars Hill and 16-for-18 against Lincoln Memorial.
On defense, Mason Gore and Tagrt Houghton share the team lead with nine caused turnovers for the Trojans. Goalkeeper Sean Ring has made six starts and has a 15.79 goals against average and a .482 save percentage, while Logan Trafton has started twice with a 12.27 goals against average and a .366 save percentage.
The Trojans lead the SAC and rank third nationally in faceoff winning percentage at 73.1 percent, and are ninth in Division II with 39.88 ground balls per game. The Trojans are fourth in the conference in scoring offense at 13.62 goals per game, and rank ninth in scoring defense at 14.0 goals allowed per contest. Anderson has struggled with the extra man, converting just 4-for-31 (12.9 percent).
SCOUTING THE ROYALS
Queens (3-3, 3-1 SAC) hosts Coker on Wednesday before traveling to face the Pioneers on Saturday. The Royals have played four nationally-ranked opponents in their first six matches, including a 13-12 overtime win against sixth-ranked Wingate on March 10. All three of the Royals' losses were to ranked foes, most recently a 15-7 home loss to Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday.
Just two players on the Royals have reached double figures in goals, led by senior Quinn Tallant with 15 goals and 18 points. Junior Austin Leonard has scored 13 goals, while senior Kealan Pilon, a preseason first-team All-SAC choice, leads the squad in assists with 11. Queens has surpassed 13 goals in a match just once, in a 20-12 win at Mars Hill on March 13.
Junior Alex Alonso has been the top faceoff man for the Royals, winning 39-of-76 (51.3 percent), while freshman Jacob Martin is close behind at 50.8 percent (33-for-65). Alonso leads the team with 15 ground balls, while three different players share the lead in caused turnovers with four apiece.
Senior Kyle Hornik was a second-team preseason All-SAC selection and has compiled an 11.80 goals against average and a .548 save percentage in six starts. Hornik leads the SAC and ranks ninth in Division II with 14.17 saves per game, while his save percentage is third-best in the conference.
As a team, Queens ranks next-to-last in the conference with 10.67 goals per game despite ranking second in the league with 33.33 shots per contest. Queens is eighth in the SAC in man-up offense at 21.7 percent (5-for-23) while the man-down defense is sixth at 74.2 percent.
The Royals, ranked 12th in the preseason Division II Top 20 poll, are 6-1 all-time against the Pioneers with three straight wins since a 12-9 Tusculum victory on April 1, 2017.
COVID-19 PROTOCOLS
Capacity at Pioneer Field is 200 spectators. Gates will open one hour before start time, and attendance is limited to two family members per Tusculum student-athlete. Tusculum students will be admitted as along as capacity is not exceeded. Visiting fans and general spectators will not be permitted to enter. A limited number of Pioneer Club members may attend, but must RSVP for each contest. Live stats and video will be provided, and links are available at TusculumPioneers.com.
