MARS HILL, N.C. --- Tusculum University scored the first six goals and went on to an 18-6 victory over Mars Hill University in South Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse Saturday afternoon at Meares Stadium.
Sophia Didzbalis led the Pioneers (6-6, 2-4 SAC) with four goals, Elisha Stack and Cassidy Bourne had three goals apiece, and Kayla Nuccio and Nina Tantillo each had a pair of goals as the Pioneers outshot the Lions by a 30-15 margin. Jessie Carolin-Vandenberg, Mackenzie Sherrod, Mya Halladay and Zuza Stasiak also scored for the Pioneers in the victory.
Brooklyn Nemitz and Abby Cleveland each scored twice for the Lions (2-8, 1-5 SAC), with one goal each for Molly Salus and Chandler Werner. The Lions turned the ball over 23 times and were 19-for-25 on clears in the match, while Tusculum had 20 turnovers and was successful on 24 of 29 clear attempts.
Tusculum goalkeeper Emily White made five saves to set the program career record with 341 saves, breaking the mark of 340 set by Kate Pipkin from 2018 to 2022.
The Pioneers went up 6-0 after seven minutes as Didzbalis scored twice in the first 2 1/2 minutes and Stasiak, Nuccio, Bourne and Stack all added goals for the Pioneers. The Lions scored three times in the final five minutes to cut the margin to 6-3 after one period.
Tusculum would score seven of the next eight goals in the match, with two apiece from Didzbalis and Stack, to build a 13-4 lead midway through the third quarter. Two goals from Cleveland would help the Lions trim the deficit to 14-6 after three periods, but the Pioneers scored all four goals in the final quarter including a pair from Bourne.
Halladay had five draw controls for the Pioneers with four for Liberty Jones. Carolin-Vandenberg led the Pioneers with four ground balls and added three draw controls. For Mars Hill, Toni Morgan, Addison Hellwig and Nevaeh Louden each had four ground balls, with three draw controls apiece for Louden and Nemitz.
Rebeca Sanchez started in goal for Mars Hill and gave up four goals in 4 1/2 minutes before giving way to Victoria Kaercher, who had four saves in 33 minutes, followed by Emma Porterfield with one save in 22 1/2 minutes for the Lions.
Tusculum hosts Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday, April 2 at 6 p.m. at Pioneer Field. The Railsplitters beat Catawba 16-3 on Saturday to move to 6-6 overall and 3-3 in the SAC.
