GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- After seeing its season-opening seven-game winning streak come to an end, the Tusculum University men's lacrosse team heads into the most challenging part of its 2022 schedule starting Saturday with a visit from 14th-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne University at 4 p.m.
The Pioneers (7-1, 1-1 South Atlantic Conference) dropped a 23-17 decision to Newberry last Saturday night despite a SAC-record 30 saves from senior goalkeeper Ross Geiger. Senior attack Nate Raymond also reached a milestone in the loss, becoming the seventh player in program history to reach 100 career points.
Newberry moved into the IWLCA Division II rankings following the win, meaning that Tusculum is now in the midst of a stretch in which four of its five games are against nationally-ranked opponents. Tusculum has one win in 21 all-time meetings with ranked teams, an 11-10 double-overtime victory over 15th-ranked Catawba on April 20, 2019.
PROFILING THE PIONEERS
Raymond is third in the SAC with 33 goals and seventh with 15 assists, while his 48 points are second-most in the conference. He has scored at least one goal in 18 straight games and has a point in 21 consecutive games dating to the 2020 season. Raymond's 33 goals are third-most in a season in program history while his 48 points are fourth-most, both 11 shy of the record of 44 goals and 59 points set by Keegan Bell in 2019. Raymond is now tied for fifth in career goals at Tusculum with 74.
Junior midfielder Tristan Kirkham has scored 28 goals and eight assists for 36 points, leaving him tied for sixth in the SAC in goals and tied for eighth in points. His six man-up goals are tied for the team lead and rank third in the conference, and he has scored a man-up goal in each of the Pioneers' last six games. Kirkham's 28 goals are the seventh-most in a season in program history and his 36 points are tied for ninth-most.
Freshman attack Wesley Phillips is fourth in the SAC with 21 assists and ranks 11th with 32 points. Phillips is second in single-season assists at Tusculum, trailing Liam Macdonald who had 37 assists in 2019. Phillips has scored four or more points in five of the Pioneers' eight games, while his three goals at Newberry matched his season high set at Alabama Huntsville on Feb. 26.
Also in double figures in goals for the Pioneers is senior Kale Lawrence, who has scored a career-best 20 goals this season and ranks eighth in career goals with 69 and ninth in career points with 90. Graduate midfielder Lorenz Brown stretched his school-record point streak to 24 games with two goals at Newberry, and he has moved into the top 10 in career goals at Tusculum with 56. Senior midfielder Jordan Daniel shares the team lead in man-up goals with Kirkham, and has career highs of 12 goals and 13 assists for 25 points.
Senior Andy Michalski set the single-season ground ball record with 79 against Newberry, and already holds the record for faceoff wins in a season with 147. Michalski ranks second in the conference in both faceoff wins and ground balls, winning at a 61.3 percent clip.
On defense, sophomore Nicholas Drennan has 20 ground balls and a team-high six caused turnovers, with senior Fred Harbinson contributing 17 ground balls and three caused turnovers. Senior Tyler Nunenmacher has 12 ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers, while sophomore Nick May has six ground balls and is second on the team with five caused turnovers.
Geiger smashed the previous school record of 21 saves in a game with his 30-save effort at Newberry, in which he made 15 saves in each half. He also broke the SAC record of 25 saves in a game, and his 30 saves are tied for the 16th-most in a single game in NCAA Division II history. He leads the SAC in saves per game with 14.57 and is second in save percentage at .570.
Tusculum ranks second in Division II in points per game (28.00), goals per game (17.25) and assists per game (10.75), along with shooting percentage (.417) and man-up offense (62.9 percent). Tusculum leads the SAC in scoring margin at plus-6.00 goals per game, and is second in the conference in faceoff winning percentage at .605.
SCOUTING THE BEARS
Lenoir-Rhyne (5-3, 2-1 SAC) defeated Anderson 15-9 on Wednesday night, overcoming a 4-0 deficit by outscoring the Trojans 11-4 over the second and third quarters. Senior Joe Venazio led the Bears with three goals and two assists and senior Myles Moffat scored three goals with an assist as Lenoir-Rhyne outshot Anderson 57-37 while forcing the Trojans into 27 turnovers. Senior Noah Johnson had eight saves in goal to earn the victory.
Junior Toron Eccleston leads the Bears in scoring with 17 goals and nine assists for 26 points, while Moffat and Venazio are tied for second with 22 points apiece. Venazio, a transfer from Coker, has 15 goals and seven assists while Moffat has 13 goals and nine assists for the Bears. Junior Will Canata has 11 goals and 10 assists for 21 points, while freshman Evan Voss leads the team with 12 assists.
Sharing faceoff duties for the Bears have been sophomore Macon Sumner (52-for-91) and sophomore John Paulus (46-for-86), with Sumner collecting 28 ground balls and Paulus 23. Sumner ranks fifth in the SAC in faceoff percentage at .571 while Paulus is seventh at .535.
The Lenoir-Rhyne defense is led by senior James Brugger and sophomore Victor Powell, with Powel picking up 22 ground balls and Brugger 21 while both have caused 12 turnovers. Sophomore Joey Masson has 10 ground balls and eight caused turnovers.
Johnson has started all eight games in goal for Lenoir-Rhyne and has a 9.43 goals against average and a .540 save percentage, ranking him fifth in the SAC in save percentage and third in goals against average.
The Bears lead the SAC in just one statistical category, ranking first in clearing percentage at .895. The Bears are second in the conference and 14th in Division II in scoring defense at 9.25 goals against per game, and are second in caused turnovers per game at 10.75. Lenoir-Rhyne scores an average of 12.25 goals per game which is eighth-best in the conference.
Lenoir-Rhyne is 9-0 all-time against Tusculum, including two wins in the SAC Championship tournament in 2016 and 2021. The Bears are ranked for the sixth time in 10 meetings with the Pioneers. Tusculum is 0-3 all-time at home against Lenoir-Rhyne, with the latest meeting a 14-10 Lenoir-Rhyne win on March 17, 2018.
FOLLOW THE PIONEERS
Live stats are available for all home Tusculum University men's lacrosse matches. Links to stats and video for home and away matches are posted at tusculumpioneers.com.
