GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Ria Acton scored two goals and assisted on another and Leonie Proessl scored twice to lead Lenoir-Rhyne University to a 5-1 win over Tusculum University in South Atlantic Conference women's soccer action Sunday afternoon at Pioneer Field.
Evan O'Leary added a goal and an assist for the Bears (9-2-2, 7-2-1 SAC), who scored five unanswered goals after the Pioneers took a 1-0 lead on a goal from Yvette Raaijen in the 19th minute. Lenoir-Rhyne outshot Tusculum (3-10-0, 2-5-0 SAC) by a 14-8 margin in the match.
Proessl's first goal came 41 seconds before halftime and sent the Bears to the locker room with a 2-1 lead. O'Leary made it 3-1 Lenoir-Rhyne just 2 1/2 minutes into the second half, and Proessl and Acton added insurance goals just over 90 seconds apart midway through the half.
Proessl had the first two shots of the game, in the second and 12th minutes, but both header attempts were wide of target. Tusculum's first scoring chance resulted in the first goal of the match, as the Pioneers earned consecutive corner kicks in the 18th minute.
The second corner by the Pioneers' Kaitlyn Watson settled to Kenzie Ellenburg in the box, but her shot was cleared off the line by the Bears' Madi Kyle. The clearance went to Raaijen to the right of the goal, and her first shot was sent back to her by LR's Stephanie Figueiredo. Raaijen's second attempt went off the hands of a recovering Bears keeper Grayson Cameron and into the goal for her fourth of the season and a 1-0 Tusculum lead at 18:07.
The Bears needed less than three minutes to level the score, as a throw-in from O'Leary went to Acton on the left side, and her shot bounced past Tusculum keeper Emma Harriman to tie the match at 1-1 at 20:54.
Tusculum tested Cameron in the final 15 minutes of the half, as she made saves on long tries from Bailey Bylotas in the 30th minute and two from Ellenburg, one in the 32nd minute and the other on a dive in the 35th minute.
Harriman was equal to O'Leary on a header off a cross in the 36th minute as the teams appeared to be headed to the half all tied up. However, a cross from the far right side by Acton was volleyed by Proessl into the goal with 41 seconds to go which gave the Bears a 2-1 lead at intermission.
The first play of the second half gave the Bears a 3-1 lead, as Proessl carried the ball to the end line before passing back past two defenders to O'Leary, who rifled home her eighth goal of the season at 47:20.
Lenoir-Rhyne built its lead to 4-1 at 68:21 as Kara Gavaghan carried down the right side and crossed in front to Kyle, who made a quick pass to Proessl and she finished off her second of the day and ninth of the season. Acton would close the scoring at 69:55 as a foul just outside the top of the box set her up for a free kick, and she buried her second of the afternoon and ninth of the year.
The last shot on goal for either team was a redirection of a pass by Tusculum's Brianna Garcia that was collected by Cameron in the 73rd minute, as both squads turned to their reserves in the closing minutes.
Harriman played nearly 75 1/2 minutes in goal for the Pioneers and had three saves, with Brooklyn Hudgins playing the final 14 1/2 minutes. Cameron finished with five saves for the Bears.
Lenoir-Rhyne had a 10-8 edge in fouls, while Tusculum held a slim 6-5 advantage on corner kicks. The Bears were flagged three times for offsides to two for the Pioneers.
Tusculum will return to action on Wednesday, Oct. 20 at Limestone beginning at 6 p.m. The Saints enter the week tied with Lincoln Memorial for fifth place in the SAC standings, following a 4-0 win over Coker on Saturday.
