FRANKLIN SPRINGS, Ga. --- Nate Raymond set Tusculum University program single-game records with nine goals and 14 points as the Pioneers won their fifth consecutive game with a 21-8 win at Emmanuel College in men's lacrosse action on Saturday.
Raymond broke the previous records of seven goals and 10 points set by Keegan Bell against Lees-McRae on Feb. 9, 2019. His five assists are tied for the second-most in a game in program history, and boosted his South Atlantic Conference-leading totals to 27 goals and 40 points in five games. Raymond already ranks sixth on the Tusculum single-season goal list and seventh on the season point list with two-thirds of the schedule remaining.
Tristan Kirkham had another big game offensively for the Pioneers (5-0) with four goals and two assists, while Kale Lawrence contributed four goals. Lorenz Brown had a goal and four assists, Wesley Phillips had a goal and three assists, and Jordan Daniel added a goal and two assists as the Pioneers poured on the scoring in the fourth quarter with seven goals after leading 14-7 entering the final frame.
Jared Weiss led the Lions (0-3) with three goals and Devon Roberts had a goal and two assists for Emmanuel, which was outshot 41-26 by Tusculum in the match. The Pioneers won 19 of the 32 faceoffs in the contest and had a 38-25 advantage in ground balls over the Lions. Tusculum also killed off all six of the Lions' extra-man opportunities and forced Emmanuel into 24 turnovers.
Raymond scored on all nine of his shots on goal, collecting two goals and two assists in the first quarter, three goals and an assist in the second quarter, a goal and an assist in the third quarter and three goals and an assist in the fourth quarter. He has scored at least three goals in all five games this season, and carries a school-record active streak of 15 consecutive games with a goal. Raymond has also recorded at least one point in 18 straight games, dating to the end of the 2020 season.
With the victory, Tusculum is 5-0 for the first time in program history and has matched the longest winning streak in the program's nine-year history. The Pioneers won five in a row twice during the 2017 season and once during the 2019 campaign.
Tusculum needed just 36 seconds to take a 1-0 lead on a goal from Phillips, and went up 2-0 as Sean Dunn scored just under three minutes into the opening quarter. Tusculum maintained its two-goal lead as tallies from Weiss and Luke Hildebrandt were answered by Lawrence and Raymond as the Pioneers led 4-2 with 6:52 remaining. Kirkham and Raymond added goals in the final five minutes of the first quarter as the Pioneers led 6-2 after one.
The Pioneers would stretch their run to six in a row as goals from Raymond, Kirkham and Lawrence pushed the Pioneers ahead 9-2 with 10:24 left in the first half. Emmanuel fought back on goals from Weiss and Ethan Perez, but Raymond scored twice in the final six minutes to offset Weiss' third of the half as the Pioneers took an 11-5 lead to intermission.
The Pioneers went up 13-5 with seven minutes left in the third on goals from Daniel and Raymond, but goals from the Lions' Allan Velasquez and Roberts made it a 13-7 game in the final minute of the quarter. Kirkham scored with five seconds left in the period to give Tusculum a 14-7 advantage heading to the fourth.
Kirkham netted his fourth of the afternoon with 13:32 left, and Raymond collected his record-tying seventh of the day with 11:25 left as part of a six-goal run from the Pioneers. Raymond broke the single-game goal record with 5:43 to go, ahead of the first goal of the afternoon from Brown with 4:13 left. The teams combined for five goals in a span of just over three minutes, with Lawrence and Raymond closing out the scoring in the final three minutes.
Andy Michalski enjoyed another strong day at the faceoff dot for the Pioneers, winning 19 of 32 and collecting a game-high eight ground balls. Michalski is four shy of tying the program career record of 326 faceoff wins set by Alexander Kleinberg from 2014-17, and is four away from equaling the school record of 173 career ground balls set by Jake Smith from 2014-16.
Dunn had five ground balls for the Pioneers, with four for Brown. Raymond and Will Cookman each had a pair of caused turnovers, with Tusculum finishing with 12 caused turnovers as a team. For Emmanuel, Velasquez had four ground balls while Weiss, Ernest Hursey and Adam Gallop had three apiece. Velasquez also had two caused turnovers along with Adam Wright.
Tusculum keeper Ross Geiger played all 60 minutes and made eight saves for the Pioneers. Emmanuel used three keepers, led by Cole Steiger with eight saves.
The Pioneers will conclude their non-conference schedule at home against Alabama Huntsville on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 1 p.m. The Chargers carry a 3-1 record into Sunday's match with Saint Leo, which is their final contest before visiting Tusculum. UAH beat Emmanuel 13-8 on the road last Saturday.
