GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University women's lacrosse team looks to carry momentum from Saturday's convincing victory into a pair of road games this week, as the Pioneers will visit Lincoln Memorial Wednesday at 4 p.m. and Catawba on Saturday at 1 p.m.
The Pioneers (4-8, 1-5 South Atlantic Conference) defeated Coker University 21-7 on Saturday to snap a three-game losing streak. Tusculum has scored at least 18 goals in each of its four victories.
Tusculum will play three of its final four games on the road, and enters the week tied for ninth place in the SAC with UVA Wise. The Pioneers improved to 3-4 at home with the victory over Coker.
PROFILING THE PIONEERS
Junior attack Tia Tuininga matched her season and career high with seven goals in the win over Coker. She is seventh in the SAC in goals with 42 and in points with 56, and is eight goals shy of recording the third 50-goal season in program history. Tuininga also equaled her season high with seven draw controls, giving her 26 for the season, while her 13 caused turnovers are tied for the team lead.
Junior Kylie Marek scored three goals and had two assists against Coker, the fourth time in the last five games that Marek scored three times. She has a career-high 24 goals and ranks 11th in the conference in draw controls with 43. Sophomore Lucy Brewer has added 25 goals and is second to Marek with 42 draw controls. She has scored two or more goals in five of the last six games, including four against Coker.
Also in double figures in goals for the Pioneers is senior Emily Youngblood, who has 16 goals and has earned 28 draw controls. Youngblood scored twice and had an assist against Coker, and she ranks second in the SAC in shooting percentage with 16 goals on 23 shot attempts (69.6 percent).
Senior Harley Smith has 28 ground balls and 13 caused turnovers to lead the Tusculum defense, with sophomore Morgan Correia adding 20 ground balls and six caused turnovers. Junior Leighann Yudin had five caused turnovers against Coker to boost her season total to eight, along with 10 ground balls.
Senior Taylor Floyd had eight saves against Coker and has a 13.69 goals against average and a .427 save percentage in nine starts. Floyd is sixth in the conference with 91 saves.
The Pioneers are sixth in the SAC in scoring at 12.08 goals per game and ninth in goals against average at 13.33 per contest. Tusculum ranks fifth in the league in draw controls with 13.5 per game, and is third in shooting percentage at 48.7 percent.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Lincoln Memorial (9-5, 4-3 SAC) opened the season with an 8-1 record which included seven consecutive victories from Feb. 19 through March 16. Since then, the Railsplitters have lost four out of five, with their lone victory an 18-9 win at Coker on March 25. LMU lost 25-5 to top-ranked Queens on Saturday afternoon.
The Railsplitters are paced on offense by the Van Der Ziel sisters, Ali and Avery. Ali leads the SAC with 84 points and is fifth in goals (51) and second in assists (33), while Avery has 34 goals and six assists for 40 points and leads the team with 36 draw controls, 28 ground balls and 23 caused turnovers.
Four other players have scored in double figures for Lincoln Memorial, including senior Melanie Cascio who has 11 goals and 27 draw controls. Sophomore Chandler Bell has 10 goals and 23 draw controls, while freshman Jaedyn Ryba has collected 25 draws and scored 12 goals. The Railsplitters' defense is led by freshman Delaney Duck, who has 24 ground balls and 15 caused turnovers. Senior Lina Martinez has 12 ground balls and six caused turnovers, while sophomore Sage Leax has nine ground balls and six caused turnovers.
Freshman Elle Miller and junior Keegan Gillman have each played in goal for the Railsplitters, with Miller making 71 saves in 525 minutes with an 11.30 goals against average and Gillman making 33 saves in 318 minutes with a 12.06 goals against average.
Lincoln Memorial ranks fifth in the SAC in goals per game (12.43) and sixth in goals against average (11.59), but is last in save percentage at .390.
The last meeting between the Pioneers and Railsplitters was a 13-8 LMU win on April 10, 2019, the lone win for the Railsplitters in five games against Tusculum.
Catawba (6-7, 2-4 SAC) beat Mars Hill 14-12 on Saturday after losing five of their previous six games. The Indians will play at Coker on Wednesday ahead of Saturday's meeting with the Pioneers.
Senior Mercedez Boucicaut is the top scorer for the Indians with 40 points, on 25 goals and 15 assists. Senior Caroline Falcone leads the Indians with 28 goals and has 30 ground balls and 16 caused turnovers. Freshman Ella McCusker (19 goals) and senior Colleen Green (16 goals) are among six Catawba players in double figures in goals. Senior Nicole English leads the Indians with 37 draw controls, with junior Erin Young contributing 27 ground balls, 23 draw controls and 15 caused turnovers. Freshman Joey Baillie has 24 ground balls and 15 caused turnovers, along with 15 draw controls.
Senior Aryn Dorr has started all 13 games in goal for the Indians and has a 10.39 goals against average and a league-best .554 save percentage. She leads the SAC with 155 saves and 60 ground balls, and is fourth in the SAC with 30 caused turnovers.
Catawba is ninth in the SAC in goals per game at 10.85 and fifth in goals against average at 10.37. The Indians are 10th out of 11 in the conference in draw controls at 9.92 per game but lead the league in both saves (164) and save percentage (.548).
Tusculum and Catawba will be meeting for the first time since April 20, 2019 when the Indians earned a 16-6 neutral-site win at Brevard, North Carolina. The Indians are 4-1 all-time against the Pioneers.
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.
