GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's lacrosse team has earned a berth in the South Atlantic Conference Championship tournament and will host Coker University in a quarterfinal matchup Tuesday at 2 p.m. at Pioneer Field.
The Pioneers (6-4, 3-4 SAC) have been idled by the SAC Return to Play protocol since a 13-9 win over Coker on April 2, but are cleared to return for the conference tournament. Tusculum originally earned the fifth seed in the field after Queens and Catawba were forced to bow out of the tournament due to COVID testing within their respective programs, and was scheduled to travel to fourth-seeded Newberry on Tuesday night. However, the Wolves were themselves sidelined by COVID which elevated the Pioneers to the fourth seed and a home game with the Cobras (6-7, 4-6 SAC).
Tusculum is making its fourth appearance in the last five SAC Championship tournaments, and has a 2-3 all-time record in the conference tournament. The Pioneers are 2-1 in the opening round, including a 12-9 road win at Coker in their first trip to the SAC tournament in 2016. The Cobras are winless in four all-time SAC tournament games, including a 13-10 loss to Lincoln Memorial in their most-recent appearance in 2018.
The winner of Tuesday's match will face top-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne in the semifinals on Friday at 11 a.m. in Hickory, North Carolina. The Bears (11-1, 9-1 SAC) won their fifth SAC regular-season championship in seven seasons and will host the semifinal round on Friday along with the championship game on Sunday. The other quarterfinal match on Tuesday is between sixth-seeded Anderson and third-seeded Limestone, with the winner taking on Wingate in the other semifinal on Friday.
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
Tusculum has featured a balanced attack this season, with its top five goal scorers between 12 and 17 goals. Junior Nate Raymond leads the Pioneers with 17 goals and shares the team lead in points with senior Braden Elam at 23, as Elam has 12 goals and a team-high 11 assists. Senior Lorenz Brown has contributed 16 goals and 22 points, followed by sophomore Tristan Kirkham with 15 goals and six assists and junior Kale Lawrence with 14 goals and three assists.
Raymond has scored at least one goal in eight straight games and in nine of the Pioneers' 10 matches this season, and his 17 goals are one shy of his career high of 18 set in his freshman season of 2019. Brown has also scored in nine out of 10 games, and has at least one goal in seven consecutive contests.
On faceoffs, junior Andy Michalski has won 57 percent (83-for-145) and has a team-high 47 ground balls. Michalski has won more than 50 percent in seven of the Pioneers' 10 games. Junior Nathan Fraser has been successful on 56.9 percent (41-for-72) at the dot and is third on the team with 31 ground balls.
Tusculum's defense is anchored by senior Connor Coleman, who leads all Pioneer field players with 35 ground balls and is tied for second in the conference with 22 caused turnovers, one shy of the program single-season record of 23 caused turnovers set by Mitch Chapman in 2014. Senior Tanner Deck has 23 ground balls and eight caused turnovers from his long stick midfield position, while short stick defensive midfielder Nash Johnson has 18 ground balls.
In goal, junior Ross Geiger has started all 10 games and has a 10.29 goals against average and a .510 save percentage. Geiger ranks fifth in the conference in save percentage and is sixth in goals against average, while his 104 saves are the seventh-most in the league. Geiger has reached double figures in saves in seven of his 10 games, including 15 stops in a 9-7 win over Anderson on March 24.
SCOUTING THE COBRAS
Coker clinched a SAC Tournament berth with an 18-15 win over Anderson on Saturday. The victory was the second in a row for the Cobras, who defeated Lincoln Memorial 17-8 on Wednesday night at home. Coker has won three of its last four, a surge that began with a 13-12 overtime win at Catawba on April 7 on a goal by Ethan Irizarry.
Junior attackman Joe Venazio has set the Coker single-season record for points with a SAC-high 74, on the strength of 38 goals and 36 assists. Venazio has scored at least one goal in all 13 matches, including five goals in wins over Chowan, North Greenville and Lincoln Memorial. Venazio had 10 points in the Chowan win, and had nine-point games against North Greenville and Lincoln Memorial. Venazio, who surpassed the 100-goal mark for his career against LMU, is second in the conference in assists and fifth in goals.
Senior attacker Andrew Dappen has added 28 goals and 15 assists for 43 points, while fellow senior Matt Murphy has chipped in with 20 goals and 21 assists for 41 points. Seven different players have reached double figures in goals for the Cobras, who rank fourth in the SAC in goals per game at 14.15 per contest. Coker is ninth in man-up percentage, converting 20 percent (10-for-50).
Junior Jason McNeany has taken the majority of the faceoffs for the Cobras, winning 55.4 percent (158-for-285) while ranking second in the conference with 94 ground balls. Junior midfielder Ethan Ramsey has 40 ground balls, while senior defender James Brugger leads the Cobras with 18 caused turnovers and is tied for third on the squad with 33 ground balls.
Senior Chris Nagy has started all 13 games in goal for the Cobras and has a 14.64 goals against average (ninth in the SAC), while his 161 saves are most in the conference.
SERIES HISTORY
Tusculum's 13-9 win at Coker on April 3 evened the all-time series with the Cobras at four wins apiece, of which the visiting team has won seven times in the eight meetings. The only postseason matchup came in 2016 as the fifth-seeded Pioneers won in Hartsville 12-9 over the fourth-seeded Cobras.
2021 South Atlantic Conference Men's Lacrosse Championship
Tuesday, April 20 - Quarterfinals
Game 1: #6 Anderson at #3 Limestone, 4:00 p.m.
Game 2: #5 Coker at #4 Tusculum, 2:00 p.m.
Friday, April 23 - Semifinals
Game 3: #1 Lenoir-Rhyne vs. winner game 2, 11:00 a.m.
Game 4: #2 Wingate vs. winner game 1, 1:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 25 - Finals
Game 5: winner game 3 vs. winner game 4, 1:00 p.m.
