HUNTSVILLE, Ala. --- A four-goal run in a three-minute span of the third quarter sparked Tusculum University to a 12-10 victory over the University of Alabama Huntsville in men's lacrosse action Saturday afternoon at Charger Park.
Wesley Phillips scored three goals, Jordan Daniel had a goal and three assists and Lorenz Brown and Tristan Kirkham each scored twice for the Pioneers (6-0), who won their school-record sixth straight game and continued the best start in program history. Nate Raymond and Kale Lawrence each had a goal and an assist, and Aiden Caskey and Andy Michalski also scored for the Pioneers, who trailed 6-3 in the third quarter before rallying with five goals in the final seven minutes of the period.
Tusculum was outshot 51-34 by Alabama Huntsville (3-3) but received 16 faceoff wins and nine ground balls from Michalski, who broke the program career records in both categories in the victory. Michalski now has 338 faceoff wins, breaking the record of 326 held by Alexander Kleinberg (2014-17), and his 178 ground balls broke the old mark of 173 set by Jake Smith from 2014-16.
Ross Geiger finished with a career-high 20 saves for the Pioneers, tied for the second-most in a single game in program history. His previous high of 17 was also set at Alabama Huntsville on Feb. 17, 2019. The six straight wins breaks the previous school record of five consecutive victories, set twice during the 2017 season and again in 2019.
Brody Phillips led the Chargers with three goals and an assist, while Jake Schramm had three goals and Bryce Ferraro added two goals and an assist. UAH was 2-for-9 on extra-man opportunities, but allowed Tusculum to go 3-for-4 with the man advantage. Raymond, Brown and Kirkham scored extra-man goals for the Pioneers, who played shorthanded six times in the second half.
The first quarter was largely uneventful, with a goal from Daniel 1:20 into the game answered by the Chargers' Phillips with 4:20 left to tie the game at 1-1. After UAH went up 2-1 and 3-2, the Pioneers tied it each time on goals from Kirkham and Raymond, but Schramm scored with 2:40 left to send the Chargers to the half with a 4-3 advantage.
In the third quarter, UAH went up 6-3 on two goals from Phillips in a span of 45 seconds, but a man-up goal from Brown with 6:39 left kick-started the Pioneers' surge. Phillips cut the margin to 6-5 48 seconds left, and Kirkham delivered the equalizer with the man advantage to tie the game with 4:29 left in the quarter. Brown gave the Pioneers the lead at 7-6 with 3:43 remaining in the period, but a man-up goal from Schramm tied the game at 7-7 with 2:42 left. Off the ensuing faceoff, Michalski scored eight seconds later to give Tusculum the lead for good at 8-7.
Phillips' second of the day for Tusculum made it 9-7 Pioneers a minute into the final quarter, but Schramm cut the margin back to a goal with 10:48 to go. Tusculum would keep the one-goal lead for more than five minutes as Geiger made a pair of saves during the span of play. Tusculum would add insurance goals from Lawrence with 5:28 left and Phillips 30 seconds later to go up 11-8, followed by a goal from Caskey less than a minute later for a 12-8 Pioneer lead with 3:52 to go. Goals from Josh Campbell and Ferraro would cut the Tusculum lead to 12-10 with 44 seconds left, but the Pioneers would win the next faceoff and run out the clock.
Tusculum was 20-for-24 on clears in the match while Alabama Huntsville was 21-for-23. Tusculum had a 26-22 edge in ground balls, with four from Tyler Nunenmacher and three apiece from Brown and Nicholas Drennan. Joseph Stuber led UAH with seven ground balls, while Evan Zonderman was 5-for-16 on faceoffs. Zak Welsh played all 60 minutes in goal for the Chargers and finished with eight saves.
The Pioneers will host Mars Hill in their South Atlantic Conference opener on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Pioneer Field. The Lions are off to a 4-1 start with four straight victories, including a 20-9 win at Emmanuel on Saturday. All four of the Lions' wins are against common opponents with the Pioneers (Lees-McRae, Shorter, Young Harris, Emmanuel).
