GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Nate Raymond, Wesley Phillips and Ross Geiger all set program records to help Tusculum University to a 17-9 victory over Coker University in South Atlantic Conference men's lacrosse action Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Field.
Raymond became the Pioneer single-season leader in goals and points, Phillips tied the school single-game record for assists and Geiger broke the Tusculum career record for saves as the Pioneers (8-5, 2-5 SAC) snapped a five-game losing streak by outscoring the Cobras (2-11, 2-5 SAC) 11-5 in the second half.
Raymond scored just one goal, but it was enough to break the tie with Keegan Bell (2019) for goals and points in a season. The goal with 11:37 remaining was the 45th of the year for Raymond and his 60th point, and extended his school record for consecutive games with a goal to 23 in a row.
Phillips finished with three goals and six assists for nine points, tying him with Liam Macdonald (Feb. 23, 2019 at Shorter) for the most assists in a game in program history. His nine points are tied for the third-most in a game along with Raymond, who had nine against Chowan on Feb. 12.
Geiger made nine saves, surpassing Kevin Haggerty to become the career leader in saves at Tusculum with 498. Haggerty had 496 saves from 2015-17 for the Pioneers. Geiger also contributed on offense, earning his first career assist in the second quarter with a long downfield pass to Nicholas Drennan, who scored to give Tusculum the lead for good at 4-3.
Tristan Kirkham finished with five goals, Jordan Daniel had two goals and three assists, and Lorenz Brown and Kale Lawrence each scored twice for the Pioneers, who outshot Coker 35-32 but won 19 of the 29 faceoffs in the match. TJ Caldwell joined Raymond and Drennan in the goal column for Tusculum, while Aiden Caskey and Sean Dunn each had a pair of assists.
Cal Gibson led the offense for Coker with four goals and two assists, while Justin Beighey and Henry Haskett scored twice apiece and Sean Moran added a goal. Coker was 17-for-21 on clears, but the Cobras had a 44-32 ground ball deficit to the Pioneers.
Tusculum was held off the scoreboard for the first nine minutes of the game as Coker went up 2-0 on goals from Gibson and Beighey. Phillips opened the scoring for the Pioneers with 6:03 left in the opening quarter, but a goal from Beighey put the Cobras up 3-1 with 2:24 to go. The Pioneers tied the game with two goals in the final 12 seconds of the quarter, as Kirkham cut the deficit to 3-2 and Brown beat the buzzer to tie the game at 3-3.
Drennan's goal with 10:33 left in the second quarter put Tusculum ahead 4-3, and Phillips got his second of the day for a 5-3 lead with 8:45 to go in the half. Gibson cut the margin to 5-4 with 7:23 remaining, but the second of the afternoon by Kirkham gave Tusculum a 6-4 lead that they would carry for the final 3:46 of the half.
Goals from Lawrence, Kirkham and Daniel helped pushed Coker to a 9-5 lead with 10:45 left in the third quarter, and Brown made it a 10-5 Tusculum advantage with 2:37 to go in the period. The teams combined for 15 turnovers in the third quarter and 24 ground balls as weather conditions deteriorated during the period.
Coker pulled within 10-6 on a goal from Haskett with 12:07 remaining, but Tusculum would scored six straight goals over a 7 1/2 minute span. Caldwell started the run with 11:56 left, followed by Raymond's record-breaker 19 seconds later. Phillips had a goal and three assists during the run, including assists on a pair of goals from Kirkham, as Tusculum went up 16-6 with 4:36 left. The Cobras came up with three goals in a span of 52 seconds to pull within 16-9 with 2:29 to go, but Lawrence closed the scoring with a man-up goal with 24 seconds to play.
Andy Michalski was 18-for-26 on faceoffs and collected a game-high 15 ground balls for the Pioneers, while Geiger had six ground balls and Will Cookman added five. Bryce Grimball led the Pioneers with three caused turnovers. For Coker, Nathan Allan was 8-for-25 on faceoffs and had nine ground balls along with four caused turnovers.
Geiger played the first 55 1/2 minutes and finished with nine saves for the Pioneers, with Riley Semmes playing the final 4 1/2 minutes and collecting one save. Ethan Hofert had nine saves in nearly 52 minutes of playing time for Coker, with Lou Webb playing the final eight minutes.
Tusculum, the top man-up offense in Division II at 56.8 percent, converted its only attempt against Coker while killing off both man-down situations it faced. Tusculum was 19-for-27 on clears, but went 11-for-14 in the second half.
The Pioneers will visit Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday at 1 p.m. The Railsplitters (4-9, 1-5 SAC) have been idle since a 19-2 loss at Wingate last Saturday.
- TU -
