HICKORY, N.C. --- Sixth-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne University defeated Tusculum University 21-4 in South Atlantic Conference men's lacrosse action Saturday afternoon from a cold and rainy Moretz Stadium.
The Bears (10-2, 5-1 SAC) led 10-0 after one quarter and scored the game's first 13 goals to win for the ninth time in 10 games. Fifteen different players scored goals for the Bears, led by three goals from Riley Seay and two goals and three assists from Myles Moffat. Lenoir-Rhyne outshot Tusculum 57-19 and won 24 of the game's 28 faceoffs, led by an 11-for-11 performance from John Paulus.
The Pioneers (4-9, 0-7 SAC) received goals from Tristan Kirkham, Will Cookman, Sean Dunn and Nate Raymond and two assists from Jordan Daniel, but dropped their eighth consecutive match. Tusculum lost the ground ball battle 39-14 to Lenoir-Rhyne and committed 20 turnovers in the match, though the Pioneers were 15-for-20 on clears.
Lenoir-Rhyne scored 31 seconds into the match and netted six goals in the first eight minutes on its way to a 10-0 lead after one quarter. The Bears would go up 13-0 before Kirkham got the Pioneers on the board with his 99th career goal with 4:36 left in the first half. Cookman and Dunn scored third-quarter goals for the Pioneers, with Raymond closing the scoring for Tusculum with 11:30 remaining.
Tyler Nunenmacher led the Tusculum defense with three ground balls and four caused turnovers, while Nate Ashley had four caused turnovers for the Bears and Paulus had eight ground balls for the Bears. Neither team took a penalty in the match.
Tusculum used three goalkeepers in the match, with starter Riley Semmes making three saves in 13 1/2 minutes, followed by Diego Hopkins with eight stops in 31 1/2 minutes and Nicholas Adams with one save in the fourth quarter. For Lenoir-Rhyne, Rob Pensabene played the first half and made two saves, with Nolan Hoffman making one save in the third quarter and Cullin Walsh with two in the fourth.
The Pioneers will host Newberry on Saturday, April 15 at 5 p.m. at Pioneer Field. The Wolves went to 8-4 overall and 4-3 in the SAC with their third consecutive victory on Saturday, a 13-7 win over Catawba.
