MARS HILL, N.C. --- Mars Hill University erased a three-goal deficit and defeated Tusculum University 20-10 in South Atlantic Conference men's lacrosse Saturday afternoon at Meares Stadium.
The Lions (8-4, 4-2 SAC) trailed 5-2 in the second quarter but went on a 14-goal run over the next 30 minutes. Sam Arendt finished with seven goals and an assist with three goals each from Brandon Woodward, Cole Ross and Josh McCallion.
Ben Royer led the Pioneers (3-8, 0-6 SAC) with five goals and an assist, with three goals from Tysen Fontenla and a goal and three assists from Clay Mendez. Luke Bowen had four assists for the Pioneers, who also received a goal from Ben Hobday.
Mars Hill outshot Tusculum 61-30 and had a 52-27 edge in ground balls, helped by winning 27 of 34 faceoffs. AJ Rowland had 27 faceoff wins and 10 ground balls for the Lions in the victory.
Tusculum jumped to a 3-0 lead after seven minutes on goals from Royer, Fontenla and Mendez, but Arendt scored twice in the final 5 1/2 minutes of the first quarter to cut the margin to 4-2 after one period.
Fontenla gave the Pioneers a 5-2 lead with 13:27 left in the first half, but it would be all Lions for the next two quarters as Woodward scored three times to help Mars Hill to an 8-5 lead at halftime.
Arendt had three goals and Ross and McCallion each scored twice in the third quarter to stretch the Mars Hill lead to 15-5, and Ben Hokenson added a goal early in the fourth for a 16-5 advantage. The Pioneers got back on the board as Royer scored with 13:23 left, one of three goals in the quarter for Royer.
Tusculum was 25-for-28 on clear attempts and had 17 turnovers, while Mars Hill went 21-for-24 on clears and turned the ball over 16 times. Both teams were 0-for-1 with the man advantage.
Brenden Pecora finished with 14 saves in goal for the Pioneers, while for the Lions it was Shane Hecht with five saves in 48 minutes and Xavier Wells with four saves in 12 minutes.
The Pioneers are home to play Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday, April 2 at 3 p.m. at Pioneer Field. The Railsplitters lost 14-7 at Catawba on Saturday to fall to 2-8 overall and 0-6 in the SAC.
