GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Coming off a pair of back-to-back home wins, the Tusculum University women's lacrosse team will face Belmont Abbey College in its only match of the week on Wednesday at 3 p.m. at Rocky Top Sports World in Gatlinburg.
The Pioneers (2-1) defeated NAIA 10th-ranked Tennessee Wesleyan 20-6 on Monday in their home opener, then rallied for a 16-15 win over Young Harris on Sunday afternoon. A win over the Crusaders on Wednesday would give Tusculum its best start since 2016, when the Pioneers began the year with a 4-0 record.
RECAPPING THE WEEK
On Monday, Juliette Cusano scored five of her six goals in the first half and the Pioneers used an 8-0 first-half run to beat Tennessee Wesleyan 20-6. Emily Youngblood and Kylie Marek each had three goals and an assist for the Pioneers, who led 13-2 at halftime and finished with a 39-16 advantage in shots over the Bulldogs.
Eight different players found the net for the Pioneers in the victory, including two goals and two assists from Tia Tuininga, two goals and an assist from Megann McKinney and two goals from Jessica Spiegel.
In Sunday's match with Young Harris, Cusano scored with 1:25 left to break a 15-15 tie as the Pioneers came back from a three-goal deficit in the second half for a 16-15 win over Young Harris. Cusano finished with five goals along with Tuininga, and both Cusano and Marek had seven draw controls in the win.
In goal, Kate Pipkin made 12 saves to earn the victory, while Eliza Ryan led the Tusculum defense with five ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Crusaders (3-2) enter Wednesday's match with a three-game winning streak, averaging 22 goals in the wins over Wingate (20-13), Converse (24-3) and Frostburg State (22-6). Tusculum will be the fourth South Atlantic Conference opponent for Belmont Abbey this season, with losses to Lenoir-Rhyne (20-15) and Queens (23-7) to open the year.
Senior Marin Felsoci is the top scorer for the Crusaders with 17 goals, and also leads the team with 29 draw controls. Sophomore Mackenzie Kaderabek has 15 goals and a team-high 12 ground balls, with 14 goals and 14 assists from junior Kylie Eastman and 13 goals by freshman Riley D'Andrea. Eastman led the Crusaders with 91 goals and 40 assists for 131 points last season and Felsoci added 71 goals as Belmont Abbey averaged nearly 16 goals a game last year.
Eastman currently ranks second in Division II in assists with 14 and third in points with 28, while Felsoci is fourth in the nation in goals and Kaderabek ranks sixth. As a team, the Crusaders are eighth in Division II in scoring offense (17.6 goals per game) and third in draw controls (19.6 per game). Sophomore Elizabeth O'Hagan has started all five matches in goal and has a 13.89 goals against averages and a .315 save percentage on 23 saves.
The Pioneers have never hosted the Crusaders, losing 13-10 at Gatlinburg in 2018 and falling 17-6 on the road a year ago.
LEADER BOARD
Cusano and Tuininga share the team lead with 14 points and are tied for third in the SAC with 4.67 goals per game. Marek is tied for the SAC lead with 5.0 draw controls per game, while Ryan is fourth in the conference with 4.0 ground balls per game. As a team, the Pioneers lead the conference with 16.0 draw controls per game and are second in both scoring offense (16.67 goals per game) and scoring defense (12.0 goals per game).
FOLLOW THE GAMES
Links to live stats and video for Tusculum University athletic events can be found through tusculumpioneers.com.
