GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — Goals from Addison Rishling and Sydney Grant in the second half pushed Tusculum University to a 3-2 victory over Wingate University in South Atlantic Conference women’s soccer Wednesday afternoon at Pioneer Field.
Rishling scored the tiebreaking goal in the 62nd minute and Grant added a breakaway goal with just over seven minutes left for the Pioneers (3-3-0, 1-0-0 SAC), who withstood the second goal of the match from the Bulldogs’ Ellie Polk with just over a minute left to earn their first win over the Bulldogs (3-2-0, 0-1-0 SAC) since 2019.
Wilma Axelsson scored in the third minute for the Pioneers, which stood up until Polk scored in the 52nd minute to tie the match. Rishling then converted on a scramble in front during a corner kick and Grant tacked on an open-net goal to give Tusculum a 3-1 lead. Polk’s second goal cut the lead to 3-2, but Wingate never had possession in the Tusculum end in the final minute.
Tusculum outshot Wingate 16-14 in the match, as the Pioneers forced Bulldogs keeper Sydney Schnarr to make 10 saves. Noemie Tartrou had just three saves for the Pioneers, but all three were stellar stops to keep the Bulldogs off the board. She also added an assist on Grant’s goal, becoming the first Tusculum keeper to earn an assist since Miriah Martin against Ohio Dominican on Sept. 13, 2015.
Axelsson put the Pioneers on the board at 2:52 as she took advantage of a bobbled cross by Schnarr to score her first goal of the season. Axelsson had another good chance from 20 yards just six minutes later but Schnarr smothered the shot on a short hop.
Grant had a pair of good opportunities midway through the half, but Schnarr lunged to make a stop in the 21st minute and punched away an attempt in the 27th minute. Schnarr’s best save of the half came in the 40th minute, as she dove to stop a header by Carme Escamilla off a Pioneer corner kick.
Wingate tied the match at 51:54 as Avery Brown sent a long pass down the right side for Polk, who moved in front and slipped a shot to the near side for her second goal of the season.
Grant continued to bring the offense after the Wingate goal, putting a defender on skates before having her off-foot shot stopped by Schnarr in the 55th minute. Less than a minute later, Grant had another chance from nearly the same spot that Schnarr was able to cradle. Tartrou came up with a save in the 58th minute as she was able to backpedal toward the line and jump to stop a distance shot from Katie Ensalaco.
The Pioneers went up 2-1 at 61:26 as a corner kick from Marja Enste went to the box and was played by McKenzie Hanson off a defender. Brynn Stokes flicked the carom and the ball went back to Rishling, who blasted a left-footed shot just inside the post for her second of the season.
Tartrou came up with a key save in the 79th minute as she leaped nearly to the crossbar to collect a distance shot from Wingate’s Kamryn Browder, preserving the Pioneer lead.
Tartrou would get involved in the offense in the 83rd minute as her goal kick bounced just before midfield and through the Wingate defense. Grant moved up to collect the misplay and went in one-on-one against Schnarr, avoiding the tackle attempt at the top of the box and guiding home her fourth of the season at 82:58.
Down two goals, Wingate brought the pressure but Tartrou was equal as she punched a shot from Sydnee Barndt over the crossbar in the 84th minute, then watched shots from Ensalaco and Polk go off target with five minutes to play.
The Bulldogs made things interesting with 1:23 remaining as a long pass from Matilda Boyle was played by Angela Maino, who crossed to Polk for the header goal. However, Tusculum kept the ball in the Wingate end for the final 83 seconds, earning a corner kick to help drain the clock.
Both teams finished with nine corner kicks in the match, with Tusculum called for 12 fouls to nine for Wingate. The Pioneers were flagged twice for offsides while Wingate did not go offsides in the match.
Tusculum will visit Anderson on Saturday, Sept. 27 beginning at 5 p.m. The Trojans are 3-1-1 overall but have been idle since a 2-1 win at Clayton State on Tuesday, Sept. 16. Anderson beat Emory & Henry 3-0 in its SAC opener on Sept. 13.
