GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's lacrosse team will wrap up the 2022 regular season on Saturday when the Pioneers host 10th-ranked Wingate University at Pioneer Field. Game time is scheduled for 3 p.m., with nine seniors honored prior to the start of the contest.
The Pioneers split a pair of road games last week, winning 19-10 at Lincoln Memorial last Wednesday and dropping a 16-10 decision at Catawba on Saturday. Tusculum finished the regular season with a 4-4 road record, and brings a 5-2 home mark into Saturday's meeting with the Bulldogs.
Tusculum has already ensured its third straight winning season and its nine victories are the second-most in a season in program history, behind the 11 wins from the 2017 team. The Pioneers have set single-season program records for goals (220), shooting percentage (.391) and saves (224) heading into Saturday's game.
PROFILING THE PIONEERS
Senior attack Nate Raymond became the first player in program history to score 50 goals in a season with a five-goal performance at Lincoln Memorial last week. Raymond enters the season finale with 51 goals and 16 assists for 67 points, ranking him second in goals and fifth in points in the SAC. Raymond, who ranks sixth in program history with 119 points, has moved into fourth in career goals with 92 and has scored a goal in 25 consecutive games.
Junior midfielder Tristan Kirkham is tied for fourth in the SAC with 45 goals and ranks 10th in the conference with 57 points. Kirkham is third in the league with nine man-up goals and recorded his fourth five-goal game of the season at Catawba last Saturday. Kirkham is up to 10th in program history with 63 career goals, and has moved into second behind Raymond on the single-season goal list with 45.
Senior attack Kale Lawrence reached 30 goals for the first time in his career with four goals at Lincoln Memorial and two at Catawba. Lawrence has 31 goals and nine assists for 40 points, and his fourth goal at LMU made him the eighth player in program history to reach 100 career points. Senior midfielder Jordan Daniel will be the ninth with his next point, as he enters Saturday's game with 41 goals and 58 assists in his career. Daniel has a point in 18 straight games and has 19 goals and 27 assists this season along with seven man-up goals.
Freshman Wesley Phillips followed up his nine-point performance against Coker on April 9 with four goals and three assists at Lincoln Memorial and two assists at Catawba. Phillips has four seven-point games this season and is fourth in the SAC with 34 assists and 11th in points with 54. Phillips is three assists shy of tying Liam Macdonald's single-season record of 37 assists set in 2019.
Graduate midfielder Lorenz Brown has stretched his streak of consecutive games with a point to 31 in a row, with a goal in 24 straight contests. Brown has a career-high 29 goals this season and enters Saturday's game ninth in career goals with 67. Senior Sean Dunn has 13 goals and 13 assists for 26 points, with points in 13 of the Pioneers' 15 games this season. Brown is second on the team with 38 ground balls while Dunn ranks third with 33.
Senior midfielder Andy Michalski leads the SAC with 242 faceoff wins and is second in the conference with 135 ground balls. He had a career-high 16 ground balls at Catawba on Saturday, third-most in a game in program history. In addition to the single-season school records for ground balls and faceoff wins, Michalski has the career marks with 467 faceoff wins and 248 ground balls.
Sophomore Nicholas Drennan has 27 ground balls and six caused turnovers from his long pole midfield position, with sophomore Nick May contributing 11 ground balls and seven caused turnovers. On defense, senior Fred Harbinson has 21 ground balls and seven caused turnovers, with 18 ground balls from senior Tyler Nunenmacher.
Senior Ross Geiger leads the SAC with 206 saves, which broke the single-season school record of 189 set by Kevin Haggerty in 2016. Geiger ranks ninth in the conference in goals against average at 14.28, and his 532 career saves are a program record. Geiger has finished in double digits in saves in nine of the last 10 games and has been 60 percent or better in save percentage six times in 14 games.
Tusculum is fourth in the SAC in goals per game at 14.67 and ranks seventh in the conference in goals against average at 13.47. The Pioneers continue to lead Division II in man-up offense at 60.0 percent (30-for-50) and lead the SAC in both shooting percentage (39.1 percent) and shooting accuracy (70.3 percent).
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
The Bulldogs (10-3, 7-2 SAC) have been idle since a 10-5 loss at Lenoir-Rhyne that snapped a four-game winning streak. Wingate is 4-1 on the road, with their only loss a 14-12 upset to Anderson on March 19. Wingate's other loss was a 15-11 neutral-site setback to number-one Le Moyne on February 20.
Junior Willie Grieco is second in the SAC with 41 assists and 78 points and has a team-high 37 goals. Grieco has a goal in all 13 games, including six goals and six assists against Queens on March 16. Grieco had seven or more points in six of the Bulldogs' first seven games, but none in the last six contests.
Senior Bobby Padden has scored 35 goals and 29 assists for 64 points, ranking him fifth in the conference in assists and seventh in points. Padden has a point in all 13 games and has scored a goal in nine straight, which includes a seven-goal outburst at Coker on March 11. Senior Adam Vodovnik has 33 goals and nine assists, with junior Danny Riley contributing 27 goals and eight assists.
Senior James Kotcamp has taken the majority of faceoffs for the Bulldogs, going 117-for-215 (54.4 percent) with 46 ground balls, while junior Donovan Jones has won 45.1 percent (60-for-133) with 26 ground balls.
Freshman Peyton Farley leads the Wingate defense with 19 caused turnovers along with 23 ground balls, and senior Mike Dilegge has registered 13 caused turnovers and collected 34 ground balls. Riley and Vodovnik are tied for second on the team with 37 ground balls apiece.
Sophomore KC Carlson has started 11 games in goal and has a 9.34 goals against average with 51 saves. Carlson has not played more than 38 minutes in any start, as junior John Caponi has a team-high 434:32 in goal with an 8.98 goals against average and a .545 save percentage, both third in the conference.
Wingate is averaging 15.46 goals per game to rank third in the conference, and the Bulldogs are third in goals against average at 8.93. The Bulldogs are second in the conference in clear percentage at 86.2 percent (206-for-239) but the man-up offense is just 10th in the league at 25.6 percent (10-for-39).
Wingate is 6-0 all-time against Tusculum, including three wins as a ranked team. Four of the Bulldogs' six wins are by four goals or less, with the other two wins by a seven-goal margin. Tusculum has hosted Wingate twice, losing 10-9 in 2017 and 13-9 in 2018.
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.
