GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Lorenz Brown scored three goals to help send Tusculum University to a 9-7 victory over Anderson University in South Atlantic Conference men's lacrosse action Wednesday night at Pioneer Field.
Braden Elam scored two goals and Jordan Daniel had a goal and two assists for the Pioneers (5-3, 2-3 SAC), who snapped a three-game losing streak by leading from start to finish against the Trojans (4-5, 2-4 SAC), a first-year program who dropped their fourth in a row following a 4-1 start.
Brown scored in each of the first three quarters as the Pioneers led by as many as four goals in the first half, only to see the Trojans pull within 6-5 on three straight goals from Hayes Barnett in a five-minute span. Goals from Brown and Elam restored the Pioneers' three-goal advantage, and a goal from Blake Larsen in the fourth quarter provided insurance.
Ross Geiger finished with a season-high 15 saves for the Pioneers, including six saves in the fourth quarter as the Trojans peppered 14 shots at the Tusculum goal. Anderson outshot Tusculum 42-38 for the match and had a 34-26 advantage in ground balls, primarily due to the work of faceoff specialist Cam Weeks who picked up each of his 16 ground balls following faceoff wins, on 20 total draws.
Larsen and Sean Dunn each finished with a goal and an assist for the Pioneers, with Nate Raymond adding a goal. Tanner Deck and Kale Lawrence also had assists for Tusculum, while Isaiah Hines had two goals and an assist and Logan Gaddis had a goal and an assist for Anderson.
Tusculum grabbed a 1-0 lead on a goal by Dunn just over two minutes into the first quarter, and went up 2-0 on a goal from Daniel just 42 seconds later. Anderson got on the board with 9:36 left in the first quarter as Gaddis found the net, but Brown made it 3-1 on a feed from Daniel with 6:57 remaining in the period.
The Pioneers carried the 3-1 lead into the second quarter, but the Trojans' Ryan Gundersen scored 48 seconds into the period to pull Anderson within 3-2. Tusculum then ran off three straight goals, as Elam, Brown and Raymond combined to push the Pioneers on top 6-2 with 8:01 left in the half. Barnett cut the deficit to 6-3 with 2:55 left in the half, then scored with three seconds to go to bring the Trojans within 6-4 at intermission.
In the third quarter, Barnett scored his third in a row just 1:12 into the period to make it a 6-5 Tusculum lead, but the Trojans would be shut out the rest of the quarter as Brown scored three minutes later and Elam tallied with 1:54 left to send the Pioneers to the fourth leading 8-5.
Hines scored the first of his two goals with 13:36 left to cut Tusculum's lead to 8-6, but the only extra-man opportunity of the game for the Pioneers came under a minute later. That man-up chance resulted in Larsen's first career goal off a feed from Lawrence with 12:35 to play to give Tusculum a 9-7 lead. Hines cut Tusculum's lead to 9-7 with 8:29 left, but there would be no more scoring as Geiger made six saves in the final 7 1/2 minutes while keeping the Trojans off the board.
On defense for the Pioneers, Noah Jessey had three caused turnovers and Addie Wilkins had a pair of caused turnovers along with three ground balls. Elam led the Pioneers with four ground balls, with three apiece from Campbell Holley, Wilkins, Geiger and Connor Coleman. Tusculum's defense also held Anderson scoreless in three extra-man opportunities with a total of two shot attempts.
For Anderson, Kaleb West had three caused turnovers and a pair of ground balls, with three ground balls for Jack Zilgme. In goal, Sean Ring played all 60 minutes and finished with 17 saves.
Tusculum will remain home to face 16th-ranked Queens on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Pioneer Field. The Royals beat Coker 18-13 on Wednesday to improve to 4-3 overall and 4-1 in conference play.
