HARROGATE, Tenn. — Lincoln Memorial University defeated Tusculum University 17-7 in South Atlantic Conference men’s lacrosse Wednesday afternoon.
The Railsplitters (4-8, 1-5 SAC) snapped a six-game losing streak by outshooting the Pioneers (1-11, 0-7 SAC) by a 59-29 margin. Daniel Pearl and Cole Morris each had three goals for Lincoln Memorial, with two goals and two assists from Rhodes Conroy.
Wesley Phillips led the Pioneers with four goals, while Chase Penner had a goal and two assist and Clay Mendez finished with a goal and an assist. Ben Hobday also scored for the Pioneers, who were charged with 22 turnovers and were beaten 16-9 on faceoffs by the Railsplitters.
The Pioneers jumped to a 2-0 lead after 3 1/2 minutes on two goals from Phillips, but the Railsplitters responded with five goals in a span of just over three minutes to go up 5-2 with 3:26 left in the first quarter. Brock Saunders added a goal with 19 seconds left to give Lincoln Memorial a 6-2 lead after one period.
The Railsplitters’ lead would extend to 8-2 on two goals in the first minute of the second quarter, before the Pioneers ended the run on a goal from Mendez with 5:50 until halftime. Lincoln Memorial would tack on three more goals, including one with less than a second left, to stretch their lead to 11-3 at intermission.
In the third quarter, the Pioneers received goals from Phillips and Hobday, but five different players scored for the Railsplitters to extend the Lincoln Memorial lead to 16-5. The Pioneers held the Railsplitters to one goal in the fourth quarter, while receiving goals from Penner with 8:21 left and the final goal of the day from Phillips with 33 seconds to go.
Devin Bowen led the Pioneers with four ground balls, while Bryce Grimball had two ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers. Michael Rogers paced the Railsplitters with five ground balls and John Lombel had three ground balls along with three caused turnovers.
Both teams came up empty with the man advantage, with Tusculum going 0-for-3 and Lincoln Memorial 0-for-4. Nathan Fraser had eight faceoff wins for the Pioneers, while Haden Berry won eight faceoffs for the Railsplitters.
Tusculum split its goalkeeping in the match, with Brenden Pecora making eight saves in the first half and Nick Adams coming up with 11 saves in the second half. Jayden Herman finished with 10 saves for the Railsplitters.
The Pioneers will host Coker on Saturday, March 30 at 1 p.m. at Pioneer Field. The Cobras are 5-5 overall and 3-2 in the SAC heading into Wednesday night’s game at Newberry.
