MONTEVALLO, Ala. --- The University of Montevallo defeated Tusculum University 14-11 in non-conference women's lacrosse Wednesday afternoon.
Kiley Shea scored five goals and Ellery Shearer had four goals and an assist for the Falcons (3-6). Jenna Piazza finished with three goals and an assist as Montevallo held on despite being kept without a goal for the final 18 minutes, 40 seconds of the match.
Lucy Brewer led the Pioneers (3-7) with four goals, while Cassidy Bourne had a goal and four assists. Jessie Carolin-Vandenberg and Mackenzie Sherrod each scored a pair of goals for the Pioneers, with goals from Zuza Stasiak and Emma Miller along with two assists from Paetyn Hoffmann.
Tusculum fell behind 5-0 after 5 1/2 minutes, but fought back as goals from Sherrod and Brewer cut the deficit to 5-2 after one quarter.
In the second quarter, the Pioneers pulled within 7-6 on a goal by Brewer with 5:16 left in the half, but Piazza scored her third of the game to put the Falcons back ahead 8-6 just 11 seconds later. The Pioneers got back to 8-7 on a goal from Bourne with 2:41 left, but Shearer scored with one second left for a 9-7 Montevallo lead at the half.
Montevallo scored four straight goals in the third quarter after the Pioneers had pulled within 10-8, with Brewer breaking the run with a goal with 1:00 left in the period to bring Tusculum within 14-9 heading to the fourth.
The Pioneers scored the only two goals of the fourth quarter, coming from Sherrod with 12:13 left and from Carolin-Vandenburg with 6:26 to play, but goalkeeper Mackenzie Griffin made six saves in the period to keep the Falcons in front.
Brewer had five caused turnovers and three draw controls along with five ground balls for the Pioneers, with four ground balls from Sherrod and three each from Hoffmann and Liberty Jones. Chloe Norman and Lily Moats each had four draw controls for Montevallo, which had a 19-8 advantage on draws in the match.
Montevallo outshot Tusculum 31-28 in the contest, but Tusculum had a 25-14 ground ball advantage as a team. Tusculum had 16 turnovers and was 14-for-21 on clears, while Montevallo had 19 turnovers and was 17-for-20 on clear attempts.
Emily White played all 60 minutes in goal for the Pioneers and made nine saves, while Ashlei Piazza had two saves in the first three quarters before yielding to Griffin in the fourth.
Tusculum will be on the road Saturday, March 16 to face Anderson beginning at 3 p.m. The Trojans defeated Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday to improve to 7-1 overall and 4-0 in the South Atlantic Conference.
