SALISBURY, N.C. --- Tusculum University opened its South Atlantic Conference men's lacrosse schedule Saturday afternoon with an 18-5 loss at Catawba College.

Peyton Turner and Frank Cetrone each had three goals and three assists for the Indians (3-1, 1-0 SAC), who outshot the Pioneers (0-4, 0-1 SAC) by a 62-23 margin.

A total of 11 different players scored for the Indians, including Hunter Clarke who also had three goals along with Turner and Cetrone. Catawba won 18 of the 27 faceoffs in the match and had a 42-29 edge in ground balls over Tusculum.

Clay Mendez led the Pioneers with three goals, while Chase Penner had a goal and an assist and William Nuzzo contributed a goal. Ben Hobday and Blake Harrison each had an assist for Tusculum.

Catawba went up 4-0 in the first quarter and led 6-0 before Mendez broke through for Tusculum with 7:19 left in the second quarter. The Indians would go on to build an 8-1 lead by halftime.

In the third quarter, Nuzzo netted his first goal of the season with 7:18 to play, but Cetrone and Clarke had two goals apiece in the period as Catawba led 12-2 entering the fourth.

The Pioneers would score twice in 10 seconds, as Penner and Mendez tallied 5 1/2 minutes into the final quarter. Mendez would close the scoring for Tusculum with his third of the afternoon with 3:51 on the clock.

Nathan Fraser led Tusculum with seven ground balls in the match while Nolan Ross had five ground balls. For Catawba, Blake Reese had 15 faceoff wins and nine ground balls, with five ground balls from Brian Garcia.

Brenden Pecora played all 60 minutes in goal for the Pioneers and matched his season high with 21 saves. For Catawba, James Crighton had seven saves in the first 48 1/2 minutes and Brady Gauntner had one save in the final 11 1/2 minutes.

Tusculum will be back on the road to face Newberry on Saturday, March 2 at 5 p.m. The Wolves, ranked 12th in Division II this week, improved their record to 4-0 with an 18-8 win over Belmont Abbey on Saturday evening.