GATLINBURG, Tenn. --- Tusculum University rallied from a pair of three-goal deficits to defeat Virginia State University 17-13 in non-conference men's lacrosse Saturday afternoon at Rocky Top Sports World.
Clay Mendez and Ben Hobday each scored three of their four goals in the second half as the Pioneers (1-1) overcame a 9-6 third-quarter deficit by outscoring the Trojans (1-2) by a 11-4 margin over the final 26 minutes.
Luke Bowen added two goals and two assists, Tysen Fontenla had two goals and an assist and Jayden Thomas scored twice for the Pioneers, who outshot the Trojans 43-41 and had 57 ground balls as a team, the third-most in a match in program history. The Pioneers also tied a program record with 18 caused turnovers as a team as the Trojans finished with 38 turnovers in the match.
Andre Bigham led the Trojans with five goals, with Devray Kirkland II adding two goals and three assists and Kalani Laughlin scoring twice. Virginia State had just 16 clears in 28 attempts as a team and went 1-for-5 with the extra man in the match.
Virginia State jumped to a 3-0 lead after five minutes, but the Pioneers scored three goals in the final five minutes of the quarter as Hobday, Mendez and Bowen brought Tusculum into a 3-3 tie after one quarter. Tusculum took its first lead at 5-4 on a goal from Thomas with 9:30 left in the first half, and Thomas added a goal with 16 seconds to play in the half to put the Pioneers in front 6-5 at intermission.
The Trojans roared out of the gate in the second half, scoring four goals in a span of 2 1/2 minutes to go up 9-6 on a goal from Kirkland with 11:26 remaining in the third quarter. Tusculum would respond with four goals in a 7 1/2 minute stretch, taking an 11-9 lead on a goal from Blake Harrison with 3:25 left in the third.
The Pioneers were up 12-11 after a goal from Bigham with 10:17 to go, but Tusculum broke the match open with five of the next six goals, including two from Mendez and one each from Fontenla, Hobday and Ben Royer. Virginia State would close the scoring on a goal from Bigham with 1:49 left.
On defense, the Pioneers were led by Jamie Thomson with eight ground balls and three caused turnovers, while Aiden Paczek had seven ground balls and three caused turnovers. Preston Stewart added seven ground balls to go along with a goal and an assist, and Drake Vance had nine ground balls and three caused turnovers while going 13-for-26 on faceoffs.
Jayden Reid had a team-high seven ground balls for Virginia State, going 16-for-33 on faceoffs, with three ground balls and three caused turnovers for Miles Jackson and four ground balls by John Goebel.
Brenden Pecora finished with seven saves in goal for the Pioneers, with Jace Wiggins making 14 saves for the Trojans. Tusculum was 25-for-36 as a team on clears and did not receive an extra-man opportunity in the match.
Tusculum will travel to Emmanuel for a non-conference match on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 3 p.m. The Lions (2-2) won their second straight match on Saturday with a 12-8 victory over Coker.
