GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Abby Lockwood scored a career-high six goals as Tusculum University pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 17-9 victory over Thomas More University in non-conference women's lacrosse Sunday afternoon at Pioneer Field.
Kylie Marek matched her career high with four goals and had an assist and Cassidy Bourne scored three times for the Pioneers (2-3), who led 8-6 entering the fourth quarter before outscoring the Saints (0-4) by a 9-3 margin in the final period.
Lockwood set a program single-game record by scoring five free-position goals as the Pioneers went 7-for-8 on free-position attempts in the match. Tusculum outshot Thomas More by a 31-26 margin, including 14-3 in the decisive final period.
Lucy Brewer set a career high with nine draw controls for the Pioneers and had two goals and two assists, while Jessie Carolin-Vandenberg scored two goals in the victory.
Anna Wells had three goals and two assists for the Saints, with Meg Pierani adding three goals and an assist. Alex Nunn chipped in with a goal and two assists for Thomas More, which had played a home game Friday night before to Tennessee for Sunday's matchup.
Tusculum went up 2-0 after four minutes on goals from Brewer and Marek, but Thomas More responded with goals from Wells and Pierani to tie the game at 2-2 with 4:15 left in the first quarter.
The Saints would take their only lead at 3-2 on a goal from Madi Carle 10 seconds into the second quarter, but the Pioneers would scored five unanswered goals to build a 7-3 lead by halftime. Lockwood opened and closed the run for the Pioneers, who also received goals from Carolin-Vandenberg, Brewer and Marek during the 8 1/2 minute surge.
Thomas More moved within 7-5 on goals from Pierani and Alexis Denman early in the third quarter, but Lockwood would push the Pioneers back in front 8-5 with 4:03 left in the period. A goal from Nunn with 38 seconds left pulled the Saints within 8-6 entering the final quarter.
An exchange of goals from Lockwood and Wells left the Pioneers with a 9-7 lead with 13:41 left, and Tusculum would rattle off three goals in a span of 1 minute, 36 seconds to go up 12-7 as Marek, Lockwood and Bourne all cashed in for the Pioneers. Pierani collected her third of the day to make it 12-8 with 7:41 left, but Tusculum scored four in a row in just under four minutes to build a 16-8 lead with 2:49 to go. After Wells scored the last goal for the Saints with 2:14 to play, Carolin-Vandenberg beat the buzzer to set the final.
Tusculum had a 17-10 advantage in draws over Thomas More, with Zuza Stasiak collecting four draws for the Pioneers. Lockwood and Haylee Cureton each had two ground balls for the Pioneers, with Lockwood also causing two turnovers. Nunn led Thomas More with five ground balls and had three draw controls, while Wells had five draw controls and three ground balls.
Emily White played all 60 minutes in goal for the Pioneers and made 12 saves, while also leading the team with four ground balls and three caused turnovers. For Thomas More, Kaylynn White played 53 1/2 minutes in goal and had seven saves, followed by Sofia Quinones who had two saves in the final 6 1/2 minutes.
The Pioneers will visit Catawba on Wednesday, Feb. 28 for a 4 p.m. match with the Indians. Catawba will be playing its SAC opener on Wednesday and has a 1-3 record through its first four games.
