GAFFNEY, S.C. --- Limestone University went on a 15-goal run and defeated Tusculum University 19-7 in South Atlantic Conference men's lacrosse action Saturday at Saints Field.
The 15th-ranked Saints (7-3, 3-2 SAC) outshot the Pioneers 66-18 and had a 53-31 advantage in ground balls. The Saints won 21 of the game's 29 faceoffs and kept Tusculum off the scoreboard from the four-minute mark of the first quarter until the final 10 minutes of the fourth.
Grant Rodgers had four goals to lead the Saints while Michael McGarry collected three goals and an assist and Carter Brand added two goals and three assists. Twelve different players scored goals in the match for Limestone, which used 45 players in the game.
Tristan Kirkham paced the Pioneers (4-6, 0-4 SAC) with two goals, with a goal and two assists from Wesley Phillips and one goal each from Jordan Daniel, Nate Raymond, Sean Dunn and Nicholas Drennan. The Pioneers were outshot 57-10 through the first three quarters before breaking through in the fourth with six goals on eight shots.
Limestone went ahead 2-0 after three minutes on goals from Chris Erneston and Rodgers, but Tusculum was able to trim the deficit to 2-1 on a goal from Drennan with 11:01 remaining in the opening quarter. From there, it was all Saints as two goals apiece from Zachary Terry and Rodgers helped Limestone to a 7-1 lead after the first period. Limestone would add three goals in the first four minutes of the second quarter to go up 10-1 at halftime.
The Saints' surge continued in the third quarter, where McGarry scored twice as part of a five-goal run that pushed Limestone ahead 15-1. Two more goals in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter would stretch the Limestone lead to 17-1 before Kirkham ended the Tusculum drought with 9:39 left. The Pioneers would score six of the final eight goals, including four straight in a six-minute span from Phillips, Daniel, Raymond and Dunn.
Limestone finished 2-for-4 with the extra man while Tusculum did not have any man-up opportunities in the match. The Saints were a perfect 15-for-15 on clears with Tusculum going 15-for-22.
Nolan Ross had six ground balls and two caused turnovers for the Pioneers, who also received two caused turnovers from Devin Bowen and Karson Gregory. Aaron Fabelo led Tusculum with six faceoff wins. For Limestone, Tim Ladner was 11-for-14 on faceoffs with seven ground balls, while Eli Dehaan had four ground balls and was one of four Saints with two caused turnovers.
Riley Semmes played the first three quarters in goal for the Pioneers and had 16 saves, with two saves in the fourth quarter from Diego Hopkins. Four different goalkeepers combined for three saves for the Saints, led by starter Cory Lyons with two.
Tusculum will host Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Pioneer Field. The Railsplitters are 5-4 overall and 1-2 in the SAC following a 9-5 win at home over Coker on Saturday.
- TU -
