WISE, Va. --- A nine-goal surge by UVA Wise in the second quarter helped the Cavaliers to a 20-13 victory over Tusculum University in South Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse action Thursday afternoon.
Abby Stoffelen scored five goals in the first half and Grace Golatt had four goals and an assist for the Cavaliers (6-9, 3-6 SAC), who fell behind 3-0 after seven minutes but scored six unanswered goals in the second quarter to take a 12-7 halftime lead. Mallory Trimble had three goals and two assists and Caroline Earnshaw scored three times, while Katie Allen had two goals and two assists for UVA Wise.
Tia Tuininga scored three goals and three assists and became the third player in program history to score 50 goals in a season for the Pioneers (4-11, 1-8 SAC). Lucy Brewer added three goals and two assists, Kamryn McNeil had two goals and an assist and Jadyn Gleason scored twice for Tusculum, who also received the first career goals from Sophia Sesi and Emma Miller.
UVA Wise had a 35-19 shot advantage over Tusculum and forced the Pioneers into 25 turnovers. The Cavaliers had a 22-15 edge in draw controls and collected 22 ground balls to 13 by the Pioneers. UVA Wise was 17-for-20 on clears and Tusculum went 16-for-24 in the match.
With her three goals, Tuininga joins Juliette Cusano (61 in 2019) and Kelsey Crow (54 in 2015) as the only Pioneers with 50 or more goals in a season. Tuininga, who has 52 goals and 18 assists for 70 points this season, ranks second to Madison Malone (78 points in 2017) on the single-season point list.
Tusculum went up 3-0 on goals by Natalie Dagley, Tuininga and Brewer in the first 7:45, but goals from Stoffelen and Allen cut the Pioneer lead to 3-2 with 6:23 left in the opening quarter. An exchange of goals by Tuininga and Stoffelen left the Pioneers leading 4-3, which went to 5-3 on a goal by Brewer with five seconds left in the first.
UVA Wise would outscore Tusculum 9-2 in the second quarter, with three goals apiece from Stoffelen and Earnshaw leading the way for the Cavaliers. Gleason scored with 13:05 left in the first half to give the Pioneers a 6-4 lead, but the Cavaliers would run off six in a row to go up 10-6 before McNeil broke the run with 4:12 remaining. Goals from Earnshaw and Stoffelen in the final two minutes sent the Cavaliers to the half with a 12-7 lead.
Tusculum chipped away at the deficit in the third quarter, using goals from Gleason and McNeil to pull within 13-9 with 10:13 left in the third. After Ellie Earnshaw gave the Cavaliers a 14-9 lead with 9:18 to go in the third, Tusculum scored back-to-back from Brewer and Sesi to trim the Cavaliers' lead to 14-11 with 5:18 remaining. However, Golatt and Trimble would score a minute apart as UVA Wise carried a 16-11 lead to the fourth.
The Pioneers would again cut the margin to three goals as Miller scored 23 seconds into the fourth and Tuininga scored with 7:18 left, but the Cavaliers would score the final four goals to lock up the win.
Tuininga led the Pioneers with five draw controls, with three apiece from Youngblood and McNeil. Brewer paced the Pioneers with five ground balls and three caused turnovers, with two ground balls and three caused turnovers from Harley Smith and two caused turnovers apiece by Emily Youngblood and Leighann Yudin.
Erin Smith led all players with six ground balls and six caused turnovers for UVA Wise, while Golatt had eight draw controls and Ashley Shannon finished with seven. Trimble had four draw controls and three ground balls and Ellie Earnshaw had four ground balls for the Cavaliers, who had 16 caused turnovers as a team.
Taylor Floyd finished with 10 saves in goal for the Pioneers and Jordan Edwards had four saves for the Cavaliers, all coming in the second half. UVA Wise was 4-for-10 on free-position shots while Tusculum was just 1-for-2 as a team.
The Pioneers will host 21st-ranked Wingate in their season finale on Saturday at noon at Pioneer Field.
