GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Jordan Daniel set a Tusculum University single-game record with nine assists, but the Pioneers fell 22-14 to 17th-ranked Newberry College in South Atlantic Conference men's lacrosse action Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Field.
Daniel, who also scored a goal to match his career high with 10 points, assisted on each of the Pioneers' final seven goals to break the program record of six assists in a game set by Liam Macdonald at Shorter on Feb. 23, 2019 and matched by Wesley Phillips against Coker on Apr. 9, 2022. Daniel, the Tusculum career leader in assists with 88, also equaled the NCAA Division II 2023 single-game high of nine assists shared by Cal Gibson of Coker and Drew Billig of Indianapolis.
Tristan Kirkham became the fourth Pioneer to score 100 career goals and Nate Raymond scored five goals for the Pioneers (4-10, 0-8 SAC), who went 5-for-8 with the man advantage and held the Wolves' top man-up offense in Division II (60.4 percent) to three extra-man goals in six attempts.
James Osorio scored five goals and had two assists for Newberry (10-4, 6-3 SAC) with three goals apiece from Briley Maxwell, Curtis Bukta and Connor Bates. The Wolves took control in the second quarter, outscoring the Pioneers 10-2 in building a 16-5 halftime lead.
Sean Dunn had four goals and an assist for the Pioneers, while Kirkham had two goals and an assist and Aiden Caskey added a goal and an assist. Will Cookman also scored for the Pioneers, who were outshot 45-37 by the Wolves in the match.
Newberry went up 2-0 in the first 3 1/2 minutes on goals from Bukta and Baker Westmoreland before the Pioneers got on the board on a goal from Daniel with 9:26 left in the quarter. Newberry would score three goals in 37 seconds to go ahead 5-1 with 5:12 to go, but goals from Dunn and Raymond would cut the Wolves' lead to 5-3 with 2:35 remaining. Westmoreland's second goal of the day with 38 seconds left stretched Newberry's lead to 6-3 after one period.
The Wolves would go on several scoring binges in the second quarter, scoring two goals in spans of 24, 10 and 39 seconds as part of their 10-goal outburst in the period. Tusculum would receive goals from Dunn and Kirkham in the first four minutes of the quarter, with Kirkham's goal the 100th of his career, but the Wolves closed the half with seven goals in seven minutes to lead 16-5 at intermission.
Bukta scored for the Wolves in the opening minute of the third quarter, but the Pioneers received two goals from Dunn in a span of 1:24. Maxwell netted two goals in 16 seconds to respond, but goals from Raymond and Caskey in a 33-second interval brought Tusculum to within 20-9 heading to the fourth quarter.
Tusculum started the fourth quarter with a two-man advantage and cashed in on goals from Kirkham and Raymond, both off assists from Daniel. The Pioneers would add three more goals in a three-minute stretch late in the fourth, as Daniel connected with Raymond twice and Cookman once to whittle the deficit to 21-14 with 2:22 left. Newberry closed the scoring with 24 seconds to play on a goal from Shane Galt.
Tyler Nunenmacher led the Tusculum defense with three ground balls and two caused turnovers, while Aaron Fabelo was 9-for-18 on faceoffs with five ground balls. Drake Vance was 10-for-19 on draws and had three ground balls for the Pioneers, who also received three ground balls from Phillips. For Newberry, Jack Travassos had seven ground balls and Bates had 10 ground balls to go along with 16 faceoff wins in 24 draws.
Newberry finished the game with 44 ground balls to 28 for the Pioneers, while Tusculum turned the ball over 22 times to 19 by the Wolves. Newberry went 18-for-26 on clear attempts in the match, while the Pioneers were 12-for-15 as a team.
Each team used three goalkeepers, with Tusculum starter Riley Semmes making three saves in 21 1/2 minutes, Nick Adams with four saves in 16 1/2 minutes and Diego Hopkins with five saves in nearly 22 minutes. For Newberry, starter Ryan Erler had six saves in the first half, Nolan Downey made three saves in the third quarter and Jackson von Eschen had two saves in the fourth quarter.
Tusculum will wrap the season next Saturday, April 22 at Mars Hill. The Lions fell to 3-12 overall and 0-8 in the SAC with a 20-16 loss at Anderson on Saturday.
