HARTSVILLE, S.C. --- Tusculum University nearly came back from an early four-goal deficit, but Coker University held on for a 7-5 victory in South Atlantic Conference men's lacrosse action Sunday afternoon.
The Pioneers (4-4, 0-2 SAC) twice pulled within one goal of the Cobras (4-3, 1-1 SAC) in the second half, but fell just short of completing the comeback. Will Cookman scored two goals for Tusculum, while Cal Gibson and Justin Beighey each had a pair of goals for Coker in the victory.
Nate Raymond became the Tusculum program career leader in points on a goal with 6:21 remaining, which gave him 147 career points (112 goals, 35 assists) to break a tie with Liam Macdonald (71 goals, 75 assists from 2017-20). Raymond set the career goals record at Tusculum earlier this season.
Both goalkeepers kept their respective teams in the match, with Tusculum's Riley Semmes making 16 saves and Coker's Ethan Hofert tallying 15 stops, including 10 in the second half.
Coker scored the first four goals of the game, collecting two in the first quarter from Gibson and Elijah Utz and two more in the second period from Sean Moran and Zyaire Marshall. Tusculum finally got on the board with 28 seconds remaining in the opening half on a goal from Cookman.
The Pioneers would cut the deficit to 4-3 in the first four minutes of the third quarter on goals from Cookman and Tristan Kirkham, the latter with the man advantage. Gibson would restore a two-goal lead for Coker with 2:29 remaining in the third quarter, and the Cobras would take the 5-3 advantage to the final period.
Coker went up 6-3 on a goal from Beighey with 12:42 remaining, but Sean Dunn trimmed the Cobras' lead to 6-4 with 8:33 left. Raymond would set the career points record with a man-up goal with 6:21 to play to bring Tusculum within 6-5. The Pioneers would have two chances to tie the game in the final 90 seconds, but Hofert made a save on Kirkham with 1:15 left and Tusculum turned the ball over with 30 seconds left, which led to an insurance goal from Beighey with four seconds on the clock.
Aaron Fabelo went 9-for-15 on faceoffs for the Pioneers, with TJ Caldwell and Bauer Swystun sharing the lead for Tusculum with three ground balls apiece. Nathan Allan had a team-high 10 ground balls for the Cobras.
Tusculum finished 2-for-4 with the man advantage, while Coker was scoreless in its only extra-man opportunity. The Pioneers had a 24-19 advantage in ground balls over the Cobras, but Coker committed just 14 turnovers compared to 21 for Tusculum.
The Pioneers will host Anderson on Wednesday, March 15 at 7 p.m. at Pioneer Field. The nationally-ranked Trojans beat Limestone 15-14 in overtime on Saturday to improve to 7-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play.
