TIGERVILLE, S.C. --- North Greenville University defeated Tusculum University 13-7 in non-conference women's lacrosse Wednesday evening.
The Crusaders (1-2) led 5-1 after one quarter and 6-3 at halftime, and held off the Pioneers (0-2) with three straight goals after Tusculum had pulled within 8-5 late in the third quarter.
Emma Mayew led North Greenville with four goals and an assist and Dani O'Meara scored three goals for the Crusaders, who had a 27-24 shot advantage over the Pioneers. North Greenville went 5-for-9 on free-position shots in the match, while Tusculum was just 1-for-8.
Emily Youngblood led the Pioneers with three goals and an assist, while Tia Tuininga, Kylie Marek, Lucy Brewer and Natalie Dagley each had a goal for Tusculum. The Pioneers had a 20-17 edge in ground balls and trailed the Crusaders by a 13-11 margin in draws.
North Greenville went up 3-0 on goals from O'Meara, Mayew and Keen in the opening 7 1/2 minutes, before the Pioneers got on the board on a free-position goal from Youngblood with 6:20 left in the opening frame. Goals from Mayew and O'Meara pushed the Crusaders ahead 5-1 after one quarter, and a goal from McCayla Richard made it 6-1 North Greenville early in the second period. Tusculum cut it to 6-3 on goals by Youngblood and Tuininga in the final 1:15 in the half.
North Greenville restored its five-goal lead in the first two minutes of the third quarter on goals from O'Meara and Kayla Harris, but Marek and Youngblood scored 31 seconds apart to pull the Pioneers within 8-5 with 5:01 to go in the quarter. Mayew would score with just four seconds to play to give the Crusaders a 9-5 lead heading to the fourth.
In the fourth quarter, the Crusaders went up 11-5 before Dagley scored off an assist from Youngblood with 5:01 remaining to make it 11-6. Brewer scored with 2:49 left to trim the North Greenville lead to 12-7 before Harris closed the scoring on a free position shot with 2:29 to play.
For the Pioneers, Brewer had six draw controls with two apiece from Marek and Jadyn Gleason. Harley Smith led the Pioneer defense with six ground balls and two caused turnovers, with Kamryn McNeil contributing three ground balls and a caused turnover. North Greenville was paced on draws by Lexi Menna with five draw controls and four from Danielle LaPlume. Keen had four ground balls and the only caused turnover of the match for the Crusaders.
Tori Smith played all 60 minutes in goal for North Greenville and made 12 saves, while Caroline Monroe went the distance for the Pioneers and had 10 stops.
Tusculum will play its home opener on Saturday, Feb. 19 against Chowan, which will be playing its season opener. Game time from Pioneer Field is scheduled for 1 p.m.
