GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Off to a 3-0 start, the Tusculum University men's lacrosse team will put its perfect record on the line this week with a pair of games. The Pioneers host Lees-McRae on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Pioneer Field, then travel to Emmanuel to face the Lions on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Tusculum earned a pair of home victories last week, beating Shorter 18-2 on Tuesday and defeating Chowan 20-15 on Saturday. The Pioneers are 3-0 for the third time in the program's nine-year history, following the inaugural 2014 team and last year's squad which set a program record by winning its first four games.
Through three games, the Pioneers are averaging 17.33 goals per game and are 7-for-15 with the man advantage. Tusculum is clearing at an 86.9 percent rate (53-for-61) to rank third in the South Atlantic Conference, and the Pioneers' 62.8 percent faceoff win rate is second in the league.
RECAPPING THE WEEK
Tusculum scored the first 14 goals of the match and went on to earn an 18-2 victory over Shorter Tuesday night at Pioneer Field. Nate Raymond and Tristan Kirkham scored four goals apiece and Wesley Phillips, Lorenz Brown, Sean Dunn, Kale Lawrence and Jordan Daniel scored twice each for the Pioneers, who outshot the Hawks by a 55-26 margin and had a 46-13 edge in ground balls.
Phillips also added five assists to finish one shy of the program single-game record of six assists set by Liam Macdonald against Shorter on Feb. 23, 2019. His seven-point performance was the 12th in program history and ranks fifth all-time at Tusculum. Freshman keeper Riley Semmes played the first three quarters and did not allow a goal, while tallying eight saves.
On Saturday, Raymond finished with career highs of six goals and nine points and Tusculum improved to 3-0 with a 20-15 victory over Chowan at Pioneer Field. Lawrence and Kirkham each scored four goals and Daniel added three tallies for the Pioneers, who built a 17-7 lead midway through the third quarter before the Hawks ran off an 8-2 run to pull within four with under three minutes remaining.
Brown, Dunn and Andy Michalski each had a goal and an assist and Phillips had four assists for the Pioneers, who outshot the Hawks by a 46-33 margin. Michalski went 25-for-39 on faceoffs for the Pioneers, the second-most faceoff wins in a match in program history.
PROFILING THE PIONEERS
Raymond and Kirkham are tied for second in the SAC with 13 goals apiece, and Raymond is second and Kirkham third in points with 20 and 16, respectively. Phillips is second in the SAC with 10 assists, and Michalski leads the conference with 34 ground balls and 54 faceoff wins.
Nationally, Michalski is third in ground balls per game at 11.33 and eighth in faceoff winning percentage at .628. Kirkham and Raymond are tied for sixth in Division II with 4.33 goals per game, and Phillips is seventh at 3.33 assists per game. Daniel's five man-up goals are second in both the conference and nation, and Raymond is seventh in points per game at 6.67 per contest.
On defense, Sean Dunn has 11 ground balls to go along with three goals and three assists, while Daniel has 10 ground balls to go along with seven goals and two assists. Nick May and Nicholas Drennan share the team lead along with Kirkham with three caused turnovers.
The Pioneers are seventh in Division II in scoring offense at 17.33 per game, fourth in scoring defense at 8.00 per game, and sixth in scoring margin at plus-9.33 per game. The Pioneers are ninth in clear percentage at 86.9 percent, and seventh in faceoff winning percentage at 62.8 percent. Tusculum is eighth in man-up percentage, converting 46.7 percent of its extra-man opportunities.
In goal, Ross Geiger has started two matches and has made 11 saves. The Pioneers have given up three man-up goals in 12 attempts (25.0 percent).
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Lees-McRae (0-3) will be facing its fourth straight SAC opponent to open the season. The Bobcats lost 21-5 to Queens on Feb. 4, fell 25-14 to Mars Hill on Feb. 9, and dropped a 22-7 decision at Newberry on Feb. 12. Wednesday's match is the final road contest for a month for the Bobcats, who will play three in a row at home starting Wednesday, Feb. 23 against Pfeiffer.
Ryan Bird leads the Bobcats with seven goals through three games, with Tyler Flannelly adding four goals and three assists and Tyler Finley contributing three goals and four assists. J.P. Galloway has five goals and an assist for Lees-McRae, which is being outshot 143-97 by its opponents through three games.
On defense, Logan Ryan has seven caused turnovers and five ground balls, while Joe Pickens is 19-for-49 on faceoffs and Rob Mendez is 11-for-52 on draws. The Bobcats are 2-for-16 with the man advantage (12.5 percent) and 6-for-17 on man down opportunities (35.3 percent), and are clearing at a 62.3 percent clip (43-for-69). Antonio Cruz has started all three matches for the Bobcats and has 31 saves for a .320 percentage.
Tusculum is 4-0 all-time against Lees-McRae, including wins in each of the last three seasons by an average of 13.3 goals per game. Last year, the Pioneers beat the Bobcats on the road by a 17-6 score in their first-ever trip to Banner Elk, North Carolina.
Emmanuel (0-1) lost 13-8 to Alabama Huntsville in its season opener on Feb. 12, ahead of a home match with Lander on Wednesday afternoon. The Lions finished 4-8 last season and 2-4 in Conference Carolinas.
Shamaz Durrant is the top returning scorer for the Lions, coming off a 2021 season where he scored 25 goals and had 11 assists for 36 points. Junior Adam Gallop returns to handle faceoffs, which he won at a 48.8 percent rate last year (143-for-293). A trio of goalies will vie to replace Ethan Brundage, who had 149 saves in 12 games last year.
The Pioneers and Lions have played twice previously, with Tusculum winning 12-11 on the road in 2016 and 27-4 at home in 2017.
FOLLOW THE PIONEERS
Live stats are available for all home Tusculum University men's lacrosse matches. Links to stats and video for home and away matches are posted at tusculumpioneers.com.
