GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- After four consecutive one-goal losses, the Tusculum University women's soccer team will go back to work this week with a pair of home matches.
The Pioneers (2-9-0, 2-4-0 SAC) will host Asbury University in a non-conference match on Tuesday at 5 p.m., and welcome defending SAC Tournament champion Lenoir-Rhyne to Pioneer Field on Sunday at 2 p.m. Tusculum is 1-4 at home this season, with all four losses by a single goal.
Last week, the Pioneers dropped a non-conference match to Georgia College 3-2 on Wednesday, and fell 2-1 to Newberry on Saturday. Tusculum is 0-6 in matches decided by one goal, four by 2-1 margins and a pair by 3-2 scores.
RECAPPING THE WEEK
Georgia College erased a pair of second-half deficits and defeated Tusculum University 3-2 Wednesday afternoon. The tiebreaking goal came in the 64th minute after Tusculum held leads of 1-0 and 2-1. Senior Kenzie Ellenburg and senior Yvette Raaijen scored for the Pioneers, while sophomore Emma Harriman had a season-high 10 saves in goal.
On Saturday, Jaidyn Jacobs scored twice in the first half and Newberry made the lead stand up for a 2-1 win over Tusculum University. Tusculum outshot Newberry 15-9 for the match, including a 10-4 margin in the second half. Junior Brianna Garcia scored the lone goal for Tusculum in the 28th minute to level the score at 1-1 after Jacobs scored 1:11 into the first half, but Jacobs notched the go-ahead tally with 4 1/2 minutes left until halftime.
PROFILING THE PIONEERS
Ellenburg continues to lead the Pioneers in goals with a career-high four tallies, but all of her goals have come in non-conference matches. Garcia leads the Pioneers in scoring in SAC play with three goals and two assists for eight points in six matches.
Harriman, who has made eight straight starts in goal for the Pioneers, has an overall 2.50 goals against average and a .667 save percentage, but in league play she has a 1.67 goals against average with a .714 save percentage. Harriman has a .792 save percentage in three home contests and a .595 save percentage in six road matches.
Tusculum has been outscored by a modest 10-8 margin in its six league matches, but is being outscored 20-5 in its five non-conference contests, all losses. The Pioneers have scored a goal in six straight matches, their longest streak since scoring in eight in a row during the 2018 season (4-2-2 record).
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Asbury (3-7-1) is an NCAA Division III independent and a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA). The Eagles will be playing their fourth straight road game on Tuesday, after playing to a 1-1 draw at Rio Grande on Saturday. The Eagles trailed 1-0 in the 57th minute but tied the game on an own goal with just over 20 minutes remaining.
Sophomore Caroline Absher leads the Eagles in scoring with three goals, with two goals apiece for senior Delaney Long, junior Hannah Pack and senior Olivia Ruckriegel. The Eagles have been shut out in six of their seven losses, and have scored 13 of their 15 goals in their three victories, including a 7-1 win over Pikeville on Sept. 4 in which Absher and Ruckriegel scored two goals apiece.
Freshman Maliya Crump has played all 11 matches in goal for Asbury, compiling a 2.94 goals against average and a .703 save percentage on the strength of 78 saves. Tuesday's match will be the first-ever meeting between the Eagles and Pioneers.
Lenoir-Rhyne (7-2-2, 5-1-0 SAC) opens a streak of four consecutive road matches on Wednesday with a visit to Mars Hill. The Bears split two matches last week, losing 2-0 at Catawba on Wednesday before beating Queens 1-0 on Saturday on a goal by Scarlett Kelly in the 69th minute.
The Bears are led on offense by junior Ria Acton, who is fourth in the SAC with seven goals and has five assists for 19 points. Freshmen Evan O'Leary and Leonie Proessl have each scored four goals for the Bears, who are 7-0-1 when scoring a goal. Lenoir-Rhyne has had 15 or more shots in nine of its 11 matches, including 47 shots in a 5-1 win at Coker on Sept. 29, 33 shots in a 1-1 draw with North Greenville on Sept. 8 and 32 shots in a 6-0 victory over Francis Marion on Sept. 15.
Goalkeeper Grayson Cameron is second in the conference in both goals against average (0.57) and save percentage (.875), and has allowed more than one goal in a match just once in nine starts.
Lenoir-Rhyne beat Tusculum 2-1 in a non-conference spring match, and is unbeaten in its last five matches with the Pioneers (4-0-1). The Bears lead the all-time series with the Pioneers by a 17-13-3 margin.
FOLLOW THE PIONEERS
Live stats and video are available for all home Tusculum University women's soccer matches. Links to stats and video for home and away matches are available at tusculumpioneers.com.
