GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum University scored the first 14 goals of the match and went on to an 18-3 victory over Mars Hill University in South Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Field.
Lucy Brewer and Liberty Jones each scored four goals and Kylie Marek scored three times for the Pioneers (4-8, 2-4 SAC), who outshot the Lions (3-7, 1-4 SAC) by a 36-9 margin in the match. Emma Miller and Zuza Stasiak each had two goals while Mackenzie Sherrod, Kira Spaulding and Jessie Carolin-Vandenberg had one goal apiece for the Pioneers.
The Lions (3-7, 1-4 SAC) scored all three of their goals on free-position shots, but committed 14 of their 17 turnovers in the first half as the Pioneers ran out to a 12-0 halftime lead. Tusculum owned a 24-7 edge in ground balls and went 12-for-14 on clears in the contest.
Jones and Stasiak each scored twice in the first quarter as the Pioneers went out to a 6-0 lead. Two more goals from Jones in the second period helped Tusculum stretch its advantage to 12-0 at intermission.
Spaulding and Miller scored midway through the third quarter for a 14-0 Tusculum lead before Allison Page got Mars Hill on the board with 4:28 left in the third quarter. Carolin-Vandenberg responded near the end of the third quarter as Tusculum carried a 15-1 lead into the final period.
Tusculum went ahead 18-2 as Marek scored her third of the game and Brewer added two more tallies for the Pioneers, the last with 5:54 to play. Samantha Newton would close the scoring with 1:22 to go for Mars Hill.
Brewer finished with eight draw controls, two ground balls and two caused turnovers for the Pioneers while Stasiak had five draw controls and a pair of ground balls. Morgan Correia and Celeste Raya each had two caused turnovers for the Pioneers, who received four ground balls from Caitlyn Wysong and three from Spaulding and Carolin-Vandenberg. Ashley Lindsay led Mars Hill with eight draw control and two caused turnovers along with a goal.
Tusculum used three goalkeepers in the match, with Emily White making one save in 21 minutes and Mackie McCotter adding two saves in 24 minutes, while Riley Vergano played the fourth quarter. Mars Hill keeper Lauren Bryner collected eight saves on the afternoon.
The Pioneers will visit Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday, March 27 beginning at 3 p.m. against the Railsplitters, who beat Catawba 13-6 on Saturday to go to 3-2 in conference play and 4-7 overall.
