HARROGATE, Tenn. --- Avery and Ali Van Der Ziel combined for seven goals to lead Lincoln Memorial University to a 19-8 victory over Tusculum University in South Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse action Wednesday afternoon.
Avery Van Der Ziel had four goals and an assist and Ali Van Der Ziel added three goals and an assist for the Railsplitters (11-5, 6-3 SAC), who outscored the Pioneers 9-1 in the second half. Sydnee Saksa had three goals and nine other players scored once apiece for Lincoln Memorial, including a goal and two assists each for Chandler Bell and Jaedyn Ryba.
Tia Tuininga and Kylie Marek each scored two goals for the Pioneers (5-9, 1-7 SAC), who committed 13 of their 17 turnovers in the second half. Kamryn McNeil, Emily Youngblood, Natalie Dagley and Jadyn Gleason also scored goals for Tusculum, which trailed 10-7 at half but got its only goal of the second half from Tuininga with 8:03 left in the fourth quarter.
Tusculum went up 1-0 just 38 seconds into the first quarter on a goal from Tuininga, but Avery Van Der Ziel would score twice in 30 seconds to give the Railsplitters a 2-1 lead. McNeil tied the game at 2-2 with 10:29 left in the first quarter, but the Railsplitters came back with three in a row to go up 5-2 with 9:17 left in the first quarter. Marek responded 16 seconds to pull Tusculum within 5-3, but after a first six minutes that saw the teams combine for eight goals, there would be just one goal the rest of the period which came from LMU's Kelly Csenar with 2:52 left as the Railsplitters led 6-3 after one quarter.
A second-quarter flurry featured three goals from the Railsplitters in a 2 1/2 minute span, surrounding a goal from the Pioneers' Dagley, as LMU led 9-4 with 11:12 to go in the half. Tusculum would score three of the final four goals of the quarter, as Marek, Gleason and Youngblood combined to bring Tusculum within 10-7 at intermission.
Lincoln Memorial scored all three of the goals in the third quarter to go up 13-7, and stretched its lead to 15-7 before Tuininga broke the Tusculum drought with 8:03 left. The Railsplitters would net the final four goals of the game, with Ali Van Der Ziel closing the scoring with 1:28 remaining.
Tuininga led the Pioneers with six draw controls along with two caused turnovers and two ground balls. Bethany Thomas led the Pioneers with three ground balls and Marek added three draw controls and a caused turnovers. Samantha Billingsley had six draw controls to led the Railsplitters, while Avery Van Der Ziel had a pair of ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Lincoln Memorial outshot Tusculum 31-24 and had an 18-13 advantage on draws and a 16-12 edge in ground balls. Tusculum went 13-for-19 on clears while Lincoln Memorial was 19-for-23, and both teams had 17 turnovers.
Taylor Floyd started in goal for the Pioneers and played nearly 43 minutes, making seven saves, with Caroline Monroe making four saves in the final 17 minutes. For the Railsplitters, Keegan Gillman had seven saves in just over 48 minutes and Elle Miller added one stop in the final 11 1/2 minutes of playing time.
Tusculum will visit Catawba on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Indians leveled their conference record at 4-4 and their overall mark at 8-7 with a 17-9 victory at Coker on Wednesday.
