EMORY, Va. — Elisha Stack broke the Tusculum University single-season records for assists and points as the Pioneers closed the regular season with a 22-8 victory at Emory & Henry University in South Atlantic Conference women’s lacrosse Wednesday afternoon.
Stack finished the game with four goals and seven assists for her third 10-point game of the season, increasing her season totals to 36 goals and a SAC-leading 56 assists for a conference-best 92 points. Her 56 assists this season broke the program record of 53 set by Madison Malone in 2017, while her 92 points surpassed the previous mark of 86 points set by Tia Daniel in 2023.
Carmella Nilsson and Laura Nance Pickens each had three goals for the Pioneers (9-8, 5-5 SAC), with two goals and three assists from Kayla Nuccio and two goals each from Jessie Carolin-Vandenberg, Sophia Didzbalis and Liberty Jones. Bridey Winterfield collected a goal and two assists and Mya Halladay, Reese Remaly and Marissa Fink had a goal each for the Pioneers, who outshot the Wasps (4-13, 1-9 SAC) by a 46-14 margin.
Emory & Henry was led by Mary Martinez with three goals and two goals each from Alex Costello and Justyce Jones, along with a goal and two assists from Avery McHargue. The Wasps turned the ball over 32 times, with 21 caused by the Pioneers, and were just 10-for-23 on clear attempts.
Tusculum is the sixth seed in the SAC Championship Tournament and will travel to Anderson for a quarterfinal match on Saturday, April 25 at 2 p.m. The Trojans secured the third seed in the bracket with a 15-12 win at UVA Wise on Wednesday. The Pioneers will be making their first SAC Tournament appearance since 2018 and the fifth in program history.
The Pioneers jumped to a 4-0 lead as Stack scored twice and assisted on two other goals in the first 12 minutes. Emory & Henry responded with two goals from Costello in a span of 51 seconds, but Stack tallied with 41 seconds left in the first quarter to push the Tusculum lead to 5-2.
Tusculum would go up 8-2 with three goals in a span of 48 seconds, with Nuccio scoring the first then assisting on goals from Carolin-Vandenberg and Didzbalis. Stack’s assist on Nuccio’s goal broke the single-season point record. Emory & Henry would come back with two goals in the final seven minutes of the period to cut the Tusculum lead to 8-4 at halftime.
The Pioneers exploded for 10 goals in the third quarter, with two goals apiece from Nilsson, Pickens and Jones in the frame. Stack would assist on two straight goals from Nilsson in a span of 19 seconds in the third quarter, with the second assist with 11:41 left giving her the single-season program record. The Pioneers scored five unanswered goals in the final 6 1/2 minutes to build an 18-7 lead entering the fourth, before tacking on four more goals in the final frame.
Tusculum piled up 32 ground balls as a team, led by five each from Nilsson and Carolin-Vandenberg and four from Haley Cain, who also had three caused turnovers. Kaitlyn Cooper paced the Pioneers with four draw controls with three by Fink. The Pioneers were 19-for-21 on clears and had just 12 turnovers as a team. For the Wasps, Jones had four ground balls and two caused turnovers, while Megan D’Amore had three caused turnovers and a game-high six draw controls.
Emily White played the first half in goal for the Pioneers and had one save, with Emery Dove and Brianna Warren playing the third and fourth quarters, respectively, without a save. Ella James had 12 saves in just over 40 minutes of playing time for the Wasps, with five saves in the final 19 1/2 minutes by Madison Weaver.
The Pioneers and Anderson will meet for the first time ever in the SAC Tournament and the second time this season. On February 28, the Trojans beat the Pioneers 18-5 in the conference opener at Anderson. Saturday’s winner will visit second-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne in the semifinals on Wednesday, April 29, with the championship match on Saturday, May 2 in Matthews, North Carolina.
