MURFREESBORO, N.C. --- Jordan Daniel recorded career highs of six goals and five assists and Tusculum University held on for an 18-17 victory over Chowan University in non-conference men's lacrosse Saturday afternoon.
Daniel's 11 points are the second-most in a game in program history, behind teammate Nate Raymond who had 14 points at Emmanuel on Feb. 19, 2022. The six goals and five assists from Daniel are each tied for the third-most in a game in program history. Daniel contributed to all seven goals for the Pioneers in the second half, scoring four goals and assisting on three others.
Wesley Phillips added three goals and four assists, Tristan Kirkham scored four goals with two assist and Nate Raymond added two goals and two assists for the Pioneers (2-0), who had a 44-32 shot advantage over the Hawks (0-2). Tusculum won 23 of the game's 39 faceoffs and were 12-for-13 on clears, but Chowan was kept in the game by goalkeeper Alec Rodopoulos who had 12 saves.
Jaxon Martin led Chowan with seven goals and three assists for 10 points, with three goals and three assist from Erik Dozzi and three goals from Noah Jalal. Martin scored three of his seven goals in the final 10 minutes as the Hawks nearly erased a five-goal deficit in the fourth quarter.
Aiden Caskey finished with two goals for Tusculum, who also received a goal and two assists from Will Cookman. At the faceoff dot, Aaron Fabelo won 19-of-28 for the Pioneers and picked up a game-high seven ground balls.
Chowan went out to a 2-0 lead on goals from Dozzi and Martin before Tusculum was able to level the score on two goals from Phillips in a span of 1 minute, 32 seconds. Chowan would build its lead back to 4-2 on goals from Harrison Buckman and Martin, but Caskey was able to bring the Pioneers back within 4-3 on a goal with 12 seconds to play in the quarter.
Kirkham knotted the game at 4-4 with 31 seconds gone in the second quarter, and the teams traded goals for the next three minutes as Caskey and Raymond responded to Chowan tallies. Kirkham gave Tusculum its first lead of the game with 6:52 left in the half, and the Pioneers kept their lead until the half thanks to a pair from Daniel. The teams combined for 14 goals in the second quarter, with Tusculum leading 11-10 at the break.
Tusculum outscored Chowan 4-1 in the third quarter, with Daniel accounting for all the goals by scoring twice and assisting on goals from Cookman and Kirkham. The Pioneers carried a 15-11 lead into the fourth quarter, and went up 17-12 with 10:24 remaining behind back-to-back goals from Daniel in a span of 1:19. Chowan would pull within 17-14 on goals from Martin and Jalal, but Phillips put the Pioneers on top 18-14 with 8:12 left. Martin would score twice in 25 seconds and Dozzi added a goal with 1:34 to play. Chowan had a shot to tie in the final minute, but an attempt from Rylan Downey was stopped by Tusculum keeper Diego Hopkins with 47 seconds left and the Pioneers ran out the clock.
On defense for the Pioneers, Nolan Ross had four ground balls and three caused turnovers while Bryce Grimball added three caused turnovers. Cookman and Kirkham had three ground balls apiece for the Pioneers, while the Hawks were led by four player with three ground balls each. Michael Litchfield led the Hawks with three caused turnovers.
Tusculum was 1-for-3 with the man advantage in the match while Chowan was 2-for-2. Chowan finished with 18 turnovers in the contest and Tusculum had 16, but just two in the fourth quarter.
Riley Semmes played three quarters for the Pioneers and had two saves, while Hopkins had two saves in the fourth quarter.
Tusculum will return home to face Emmanuel on Saturday, February 18 at 7 p.m. at Pioneer Field.
