GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Freshman Elisha Stack tied the Tusculum University single-game record with 12 points to lead the Pioneers to a 17-13 victory over North Greenville University Wednesday afternoon in non-conference women's lacrosse at Pioneer Field.
Stack had five goals and seven assists to match the record of 12 points set by Savannah Elliott against Converse on Feb. 16, 2017. Her seven assists are tied for the second-most in a game in program history, one behind the record of eight set by Madison Malone against Lincoln Memorial on March 30, 2016.
Zuza Stasiak had three goals, Jessie Carolin-Vandenberg contributed two goals and an assist, and Liberty Jones and Nina Tantillo each scored twice for the Pioneers (3-2). Kayla Nuccio, Mya Halladay and Cassidy Bourne also scored for Tusculum, which led 12-6 midway through the third quarter before the Trailblazers (1-5) rallied to within a goal early in the fourth.
Isabella Ortiz paced North Greenville with three goals and two assists, with Ava Walls and Kami Straub each contributing three goals and an assist. Kylie Keen had two goals, and Lauren Crane and Katie Keller also scored for the Trailblazers, who dropped their fifth match in a row.
Stack scored or assisted on nine of the Pioneers' 10 goals in the first half, which helped Tusculum to a 5-3 lead after one quarter. The Pioneers scored four straight goals in to up 9-4 on a goal from Tantillo with 5:52 to play in the first half, and Tusculum carried a 10-6 lead to intermission.
Goals from Stasiak and Carolin-Vandenberg early in the third quarter gave Tusculum its largest lead at 12-6 with 10:45 left, but North Greenville fought back and scored twice in the final 30 seconds of the period to pull within 13-10 after three quarters.
The Trailblazers continued their surge in the fourth, with goals from Straub and Ortiz knocking the Tusculum lead to 13-12 with 13:46 to play. However, the Pioneers would score the next three goals from Stack, Jones and Stasiak to go up 16-12 with 7:01 left. After Keen cut the margin to 16-13 with 3:44 left, Stack closed the scoring and tied the point record with 11 seconds to play to close the scoring.
Carolin-Vandenberg had six ground balls and four caused turnovers for the Pioneers, while Halladay had eight draw controls. Aubrey Mayse paced the Trailblazers with seven draw controls, with four ground balls for Ortiz.
Tusculum outshot North Greenville 30-25 while both teams had 16 ground balls apiece. The Trailblazers had a 19-15 edge in draw controls, and both teams committed 18 turnovers. Tusculum went 16-for-21 on clear attempts and North Greenville was 10-for-16 on clears.
Emily White made 10 saves in goal for the Pioneers, while the Trailblazers' Tori Smith played just under 45 minutes after being briefly knocked out of the game and had 10 saves. Backup keeper Sydney Spelman played the remaining 15 minutes for North Greenville, and did not have a save on seven shots.
The Pioneers host Catawba in their South Atlantic Conference opener on Saturday, March 1 at 1 p.m. at Pioneer Field. The Indians (2-1) beat Southern Wesleyan 17-4 on Wednesday in their final tuneup before conference play.
