MARS HILL, N.C. — Tusculum University defeated Mars Hill University 13-5 in South Atlantic Conference women’s lacrosse Wednesday afternoon at Meares Stadium.
The Pioneers (4-4, 1-2 SAC) outshot the Lions (3-5, 0-4 SAC) by a 32-15 margin and won 15 of the 18 draws in the match. The Pioneers led by at least eight goals for the final 35 minutes and received goals from eight different players in the win.
Mya Halladay led Tusculum with three goals, with two goals apiece from Carmella Nilsson, Marissa Fink and Laura Nance Pickens. Liberty Jones and Elisha Stack had a goal and an assist apiece, with one goal each from Jessie Carolin-Vandenberg and Sophia Didzbalis and two assists from Kayla Nuccio.
Reese Wachter and Cierra Ledeen scored two goals each for the Lions, with Tia Chenard-McKercher also collecting a goal for Mars Hill. The Lions were 24-for-30 on clears and had 21 turnovers, while Tusculum was 27-for-29 on clears and turned the ball over 17 times.
The Pioneers went up 3-0 in the first 8 1/2 minutes on goals from Didzbalis, Halladay and Pickens before the Lions got on the board on a goal from Wachter with 5:06 left in the first quarter. After leading 4-1 after a quarter, two goals each from Nilsson and Fink stretched the Tusculum lead to 7-1 with 10:35 left in the first half. Halladay added two goals in the final 8 1/2 minutes of the first half as the Pioneers carried an 11-2 lead to halftime.
Each team scored twice in the third quarter, with goals from Carolin-Vandenberg and Stack helping the Pioneers take a 13-4 advantage into the fourth quarter. Mars Hill collected the only goal of the fourth quarter as Wachter posted her second tally of the day with 6:13 left.
Jones had four ground balls for the Pioneers, with three ground balls from Carolin-Vandenberg and Pickens. Nilsson had two ground balls, three caused turnovers and three draw controls for the Pioneers, who had a match-high five draw controls from Reese Remaly.
Makenna Olson and Angie Laruy had four ground balls each for the Lions, with three caused turnovers for Laruy and two for Olson along with two for Madison Welch. Mars Hill had a 27-26 edge in ground balls over Tusculum.
Emily White finished with six saves in goal for the Pioneers, with Victoria Kaercher making 10 saves for the Lions.
Tusculum will resume its homestand on Friday, March 20 when the Pioneers host Lewis in a non-conference match at 1 p.m. at Pioneer Field. The Flyers are 3-3 heading into a Wednesday evening match at Lee.
