GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- After a stretch of three consecutive home games, the Tusculum University women's lacrosse team will take to the road to visit top-ranked Queens University of Charlotte on Saturday at 4 p.m.
The Pioneers (3-7, 0-4 South Atlantic Conference) dropped a 16-8 decision to 21st-ranked Limestone on Saturday at Pioneer Field. Saturday's game at Queens will mark the second time that Tusculum has played the top-ranked team in the IWLCA Division II poll. On March 3, 2018, the Pioneers lost 22-7 at number-one Florida Southern. Tusculum is 0-13 all-time against Division II ranked opponents, with six of the losses to Queens.
Tusculum had been scheduled for two matches this week, but Wednesday's contest at injury-ravaged UVA Wise was postponed and rescheduled for Thursday, April 21 at Wise beginning at 3 p.m.
PROFILING THE PIONEERS
Tusculum trailed Limestone 10-7 late in the third quarter, but the Saints scored six of the final seven goals to pull away in the fourth quarter. Sophomore Lucy Brewer led the Pioneers with four goals and an assist, and junior Tia Tuininga contributed two goals and two assists for the Pioneers.
Tuininga enters the week ranked eighth in the SAC with 32 goals, 10th in the conference with 13 assists and seventh in points with 45. She is now tied for 10th in goals in a single season for the Pioneers, and remains eighth in program history in both goals (68) and points (85). Tuininga has scored a goal in 18 straight games and in 22 of her 23 career contests. She also ranks second on the team with 12 caused turnovers and 19 ground balls.
Brewer had her sixth multi-goal game of the season and fourth in a row against Limestone, and is second on the team with 21 goals. She is eighth in the SAC in draw controls with 40, and matched her season high with six draw controls in the Limestone match. Junior Kylie Marek had season highs of three caused turnovers and three draw controls against Limestone, and is 10th in the SAC with 37 draw controls to go along with 18 goals and six assists.
Senior Emily Youngblood is also in double figures in goals with 14, and is third on the squad in draw controls with 28 and fourth in ground balls with 16. Youngblood is fifth all-time in program history with 91 draw controls, nine shy of becoming the third Tusculum player to reach 100 in a career. Junior Kamryn McNeil has seen more action at attack than defense over the past few weeks, and has responded with seven goals on eight shot attempts (87.5 percent). McNeil has scored in five of the last seven games, and has added 14 ground balls and four caused turnovers.
On defense, senior Harley Smith continues to lead the Pioneers with 13 caused turnovers and 26 ground balls, ranking her 15th in the conference in caused turnovers and ninth in ground balls. Sophomore Morgan Correia has 17 ground balls and six caused turnovers, and grad student Bethany Thomas has seven ground balls and five caused turnovers.
Senior Taylor Floyd has started seven straight games for the Pioneers and has reached double figures in saves four times this season, including 12 stops in the loss to Limestone. Floyd is fourth in the SAC with 77 saves and sixth in save percentage at .445, while compiling a goals against average of 12.96 in nine games.
Tusculum is sixth in the SAC in goals per game at 11.80 and eighth in goals against per game at 12.80. Tusculum ranks fifth in the conference in draw controls per game at 14.2, and the Pioneers have the top shot accuracy percentage in the SAC by putting 84.4 percent of their shot attempts on goal. Through 10 games, the Pioneers' statistics compared to their opponents are nearly identical in ground balls (176-167 opponents), draw controls (142-140 TU), turnovers (186-183 opponents) and caused turnovers (78 apiece). Tusculum and its opponents also have an identical save percentage by goalkeepers at 44.1 percent.
SCOUTING THE ROYALS
Queens (10-0, 5-0 SAC) remained at number one in the IWLCA Division II poll for a second straight week after defeating Lenoir-Rhyne 24-2 on Saturday, and followed up with a 27-1 rout of Coker on Wednesday. Those wins came after a 22-0 shutout win over Mars Hill on March 19, and gave the Royals 20 or more goals in seven of their 10 games. Queens has allowed more than 10 goals just one, in a 19-12 victory at Wingate on March 16.
Senior Kyleigh Masteran leads the Royals and ranks third in the SAC with 42 goals, and is second on the team with 51 points which is sixth in the conference. Masteran has scored at least three goals in all 10 games for the Royals, with a season high of five goals and three assists in the win over Mars Hill. Senior Rebecca Kinsley ranks second in the SAC with 60 points on 32 goals (eighth in the SAC) and 28 assists (second). Kinsley has had at least two goals and two assists in each game, including a five-goal game against Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday.
Senior Grace Guglielmo leads the Royals in draw controls with 51 (third in the SAC), caused turnovers with 24 (third in the SAC) and ground balls with 27. Senior Sydney Bracken also has 51 draw controls after collecting 13 in Wednesday's win over Coker, and junior Shannon Kingston has 39 draw controls for the Royals, who have a 192-95 advantage in draws over their opponents.
Sophomore Caroline Kraemer started the first nine games in goal for the Royals and has a 6.49 goals against average and a .462 save percentage. Kraemer, who leads the SAC and ranks third in Division II in goals against average, has had to make 10 saves or more in a game just twice this season -- 13 stops in a 12-9 win at Florida Southern on Feb. 27 and 10 saves in a 10-9 win over Tampa on March 5.
Queens leads all of Division II in goals per game (20.0) and scoring margin (plus-14.30 per game) and is second in the country in draw controls per game (19.2) and third in scoring defense (5.70 per game), all of which lead the SAC.
The Royals are 6-0 all-time against the Pioneers, and have been nationally-ranked for all six previous meetings. Queens and Tusculum have not played since the Royals picked up a 24-5 win at Pioneer Field on March 23, 2019. Queens is averaging 23.2 goals per game in six meetings with Tusculum, scoring between 21 and 25 goals in all six games.
FOLLOW THE PIONEERS
Live stats are available for all home Tusculum University women's lacrosse matches. Links to stats and video for home and away matches are posted at tusculumpioneers.com.
