GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Scoring runs of six and four goals by Newberry College were the difference as the Wolves defeated Tusculum University 11-6 in South Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse action Saturday at Pioneer Field.
The Wolves (11-5, 8-1 SAC) kept the Pioneers (6-9, 3-6 SAC) scoreless in both the second and fourth quarters while receiving a game-high three goals from Heather Johnston along with a goal and four assists from Marissa Plumer.
On Senior Day, the Pioneers received two goals from Tia Daniel, a goal and an assist from Abby Lockwood and one goal apiece from Emma Miller, Lucy Brewer and Kamryn McNeil. Tusculum was outshot 32-23 by Newberry, which took advantage of six yellow cards against the Pioneers to score five goals while a player up.
Tusculum opened the scoring just 1:04 into the game on a goal by Brewer, but Cassell Richardson answered with 10:49 left in the opening quarter to tie the game at 1-1. Daniel would give the Pioneers a 2-1 lead with 7:31 to play in the period and added a second with 29 seconds to go to push Tusculum ahead 3-1 after the first quarter.
A goal from Hanna Bond four minutes into the second quarter brought the Wolves back within 3-2, and the teams stayed tied until the pivotal final four minutes of the half when Tusculum received back-to-back non-releasable yellow cards. Newberry would score three times to close out the half, capped by a goal from Richardson with 53 seconds left for a 5-3 Wolves lead at intermission.
Goals from Johnston and Plumer in the first 90 seconds of the third quarter would give Newberry a 7-3 lead, but Tusculum fought back to within 7-6 on consecutive goals from Lockwood, Miller and McNeil. Emma Jobs would respond just 1:17 after McNeil's goal for an 8-6 Newberry lead with 6:20 left in the quarter, and Johnston netted her third with 1:01 to play as the Wolves went up 9-6 after three periods.
Jenny Bates would score the only two goals in the fourth quarter for Newberry, tallying 90 seconds into the period for a 10-6 lead and adding her second with 2:33 remaining to set the final score.
Brewer had six draw controls and two caused turnovers for the Pioneers, while Celeste Raya led the Tusculum defense with three ground balls. Plumer paced Newberry with six draw controls while Richardson had a team-best four ground balls for the Wolves.
Tusculum finished the game with 22 turnovers, 13 of which came in the second half, while Newberry had 18 turnovers as a team. The Wolves went 18-for-22 on clears and 4-for-9 on free position shots, while the Pioneers were 14-for-20 on clears and just 1-for-7 on free-position shots. Newberry had the slim edge over Tusculum in both ground balls (17-16) and draw controls (11-10).
Emily White, who had 16 saves in her first career start against UVA Wise on Wednesday, finished with 14 saves against Newberry. Mackenzie Dorr finished with 11 saves for Newberry.
Tusculum will conclude its regular season on Saturday, April 22 at Mars Hill. The Lions fell to 4-10 overall and 2-7 in the SAC with their fifth straight loss on Saturday, a 20-6 setback at Anderson.
