TIGERVILLE, S.C. --- North Greenville University scored the final eight goals of the first half and went on to a 16-5 victory over Tusculum University in non-conference women's lacrosse action Tuesday afternoon.
Playing in rain-soaked conditions, the Crusaders (1-1) outshot the Pioneers (0-2) by a 39-7 margin and broke a 2-2 tie with eight consecutive goals over the final 10 minutes of the first half.
Brenis Napoli led North Greenville with three goals and two assists, Olivia Foltz had three goals and an assist and Hanna Hawkins scored three goals for the Crusaders. Jillian Chiesa added two goals and two assists, Maegan Easler had two goals and an assist and Rachel Kellogg scored twice in the victory for North Greenville.
Juliette Cusano scored three goals and Brittany Lowery scored twice for the Pioneers, who were held scoreless for more than 21 minutes from the late stages of the first half to the early portion of the second half.
The Crusaders and Pioneers exchanged the first four goals of the game, as tallies by Napoli and Kellogg were answered by Cusano to leave the score at 2-2 with 12:26 left in the first half. North Greenville would then score the final eight goals of the half in a span of 9 1/2 minutes, including three from Hawkins, to take a 10-2 lead at intermission.
North Greenville's lead swelled to 12-2 early in the second half on goals by Napoli and Foltz, before Cusano scored her third of the game and Lowery added a pair to trim the deficit to 12-5 with 15:41 left. But, the Crusaders would net four goals in a span of 7 1/2 minutes to close the scoring.
Kellogg, who had a game-high 13 shots, also led all players with 13 draw controls as the Crusaders won 20 of the 23 draws in the match. Chiesa added six draw controls and had two ground balls and two caused turnovers for North Greenville.
Cusano led Tusculum with six ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers, with Lowery adding three ground balls.
Kate Pipkin played all 60 minutes in goal for the Pioneers and recorded nine saves, while the Crusaders' Sydney Taylor had zero saves on five shots on goal, but earned the win.
Tusculum will return to action on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Belmont Abbey.
