GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's soccer team has concluded its non-conference slate of games and will begin their 11-match South Atlantic Conference schedule with a pair of contests this week.
The Pioneers (1-2-0) travel to Lincoln Memorial for a 3:30 p.m. match on Wednesday, Sept. 15, then host Mars Hill in their home opener on Sunday, Sept. 19 at 4:30 p.m. at Pioneer Field.
Last week, Tusculum defeated Lees-McRae 4-2 on Tuesday afternoon behind a hat trick from Ignacio Alconchel, then yielded four second-half goals while playing a man down in a 4-0 loss at Lee on Saturday night.
RECAPPING THE WEEK
Alconchel scored in the 25th, 60th and 88th minutes for the Pioneers in Tuesday's win at Lees-McRae to become the first Tusculum player to score three goals in a game since Henrique Devens against Coker on Oct. 27, 2019. His third goal came directly off the restart after the Bobcats (0-1-1) pulled within 3-2 on a goal with 2:30 remaining.
Adam O'Sullivan also scored for the Pioneers, who were outshot 22-13 by the Bobcats including a 15-5 margin in the second half. Tusculum keeper Bruno De Freitas finished with 11 saves, with eight saves coming in the second half.
On Saturday, Lee scored four second-half goals to defeat the undermanned Pioneers 4-0. The Flames (2-1-0) broke a scoreless tie in the 57th minute after the Pioneers lost a man to a yellow card in the first half, then scored three more goals in the final 15 minutes after a second Tusculum player was sent off.
The Flames outshot the Pioneers by a 15-6 margin in a physical game which featured 30 total fouls along with nine cards. De Freitas finished with four saves in goal for the Pioneers.
PROFILING THE PIONEERS
Alconchel has three of the Pioneers' five goals through three matches, with the other goals from O'Sullivan and Levi Vasconcelos. Michele Di Miele, who did not play Saturday at Lee, leads the Pioneers with two assists. De Freitas has been active so far for the Pioneers, facing 49 shot attempts in three matches with 18 saves and a 2.67 goals against average.
Alconchel is tied for sixth in the SAC in goals with three, which have come on four shots on target. De Freitas ranks eighth in the conference in save percentage at .692.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Lincoln Memorial (1-2-1) played to a scoreless tie with 10th-ranked Union (Tennessee) on Saturday at the LMU Soccer Complex. Union outshot LMU 23-10, but Railsplitter keeper Robin Herrmann made nine saves to preserve the deadlock. On Wednesday, LMU visited 20th-ranked Young Harris and dropped a 3-2 decision to the Mountain Lions. The Railsplitters trailed 3-0 with just over 10 minutes left, but goals from Pedro da Silva in the 80th minute and Will Arrowood in the 90th minute cut the deficit to one.
Arkin Ulusoy leads the Railsplitters with two goals, which came in the first two matches against Montevallo and West Alabama. Six different players have accounted for the Railsplitters' seven goals. Hermann has played every minute in goal for LMU and has a 1.89 goals against average and a .742 save percentage.
The Pioneers and Railsplitters split two meetings last season, with each winning on their home field. LMU beat Tusculum 2-1 in overtime at home but the Pioneers came back with a 2-0 win at home in the regular-season finale. Lincoln Memorial leads the all-time series over Tusculum by a 15-12-6 margin.
Mars Hill (2-1-1) will finish up a stretch of four straight road matches when the Lions visit the Pioneers on Sunday. Mars Hill played to a 1-1 draw at King last Wednesday, then pounded USC Aiken 6-2 on Saturday with six first-half goals, including a hat trick from Kevonte Willoughby-Williams and two goals from Sebastian Bertilsson, all in the first 18 minutes.
Willoughby-Williams and Bertilsson are tied for second in the SAC in goals with four, while Bertilsson leads the league in points with 12 on the strength of a SAC-best four assists. Brennan Whalen has a 1.89 goals against average for the Lions with 14 saves and a .636 save percentage.
The Pioneers dropped a 1-0 home decision to the Lions and played to a 1-1 draw on the road this past spring, as Tusculum holds a 16-10-5 lead in the all-time series.
FOLLOW THE PIONEERS
Live stats and video are available for all home Tusculum University men's soccer matches. Links to stats and video for home and away matches are available at tusculumpioneers.com.
