SALISBURY, N.C. — Carmella Nilsson scored her fourth goal of the game with 3:52 left in overtime as Tusculum University defeated Catawba College 9-8 in South Atlantic Conference women’s lacrosse Saturday afternoon at Shuford Stadium.
The Pioneers (7-6, 3-3 SAC) lost leads of 6-3 and 8-7 in the second half, but held possession for the entire overtime period. After a pair of shots went wide, Elisha Stack delivered her third assist of the game to Nilsson to give the Pioneers their fourth straight victory over the Indians (4-8, 1-5 SAC).
Stack had three goals and three assists for the Pioneers, with a goal apiece from Laura Nance Pickens and Sophia Didzbalis. Maddie Fox, Mary Sorvillo and Abby Shuren each scored twice for Catawba, which had a slim 23-22 advantage in shots in a match that saw the teams combine for 55 turnovers.
The 9-8 final marked the first time in the program’s 173-game history that neither team reached double figures in goals in a game, and the 17 combined goals are tied for the fewest in a single game in program history that was first set in an 11-6 loss at Newberry on April 15, 2023 and matched in an 11-6 win over Catawba on March 1, 2025.
Tusculum took a 2-0 lead in the first quarter on goals 18 seconds apart by Stack and Pickens, with Catawba getting on the board with 4:49 left in the period on a goal from Shuren. The Indians tied the game 2-2 on a goal from Ava Stanza early in the second quarter, but Nilsson scored twice in the final 7 1/2 minutes to help the Pioneers to a 5-3 lead at halftime.
Nilsson’s third of the game gave Tusculum a 6-3 lead with 9:22 left in the third quarter, but Catawba surged back with four goals in just over two minutes to go ahead 7-6 on a goal by Fox with 6:21 remaining in the quarter.
Didzbalis responded with 2:33 left in the period and the 7-7 tie carried into the fourth, where Stack scored with 7:46 left for an 8-7 Tusculum lead. Fox tied the game back up with 4:28 remaining, and the game went to overtime despite three shots on goal from the Pioneers in the final three minutes and a shot off the post by the Indians with 39 seconds left.
Tusculum had a 10-9 advantage on draw controls, led by three apiece from Liberty Jones and Mya Halladay. Halladay, Marissa Fink and Jessie Carolin-Vandenberg each had four ground balls for the Pioneers, while Carolin-Vandenberg, Pickens and Celeste Raya each had two caused turnovers.
Allison Filosa led Catawba with four ground balls and had three caused turnovers, with four caused turnovers for Madison Widecki. Sorvillo and Skylar Mullin each had three draw controls for the Indians.
Emily White played 52 1/2 minutes in goal for the Pioneers and had seven saves, with Emery Dove seeing an 8 1/2 minute stint in goal in the third quarter. Ashlea Nieland made one save in the first half for the Indians, and Ava Kunza had four stops in the second half and overtime.
The Pioneers will visit Lincoln Memorial for a critical SAC match on Wednesday, April 8 beginning at 7 p.m. The Railsplitters fell to 6-7 overall and 2-4 in the SAC with their third straight loss on Saturday, an 18-1 setback at Anderson.
