GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Ben Royer had a career-high 11 points on five goals and six assists and Luke Bowen added four goals and six assists as Tusculum University earned a 20-8 win over Emory & Henry University in South Atlantic Conference men's lacrosse Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Field.
Will Nuzzo and Clay Mendez had three goals apiece for the Pioneers (5-11, 1-9 SAC) with one goal each from Tysen Fontenla, Preston Stewart, Blake Harrison, Grayson Collins and starting goalkeeper Brenden Pecora. The Pioneers outshot the Wasps 53-39 and forced Emory & Henry into 29 turnovers while holding the Wasps scoreless on six extra-man opportunities. Tusculum was 2-for-5 with the man advantage in the contest.
Dakotah Hawkins led the Wasps (0-14, 0-9 SAC) with four goals, with two goals apiece from David Mewes and Collin Shell. The Wasps did have a 15-13 advantage in faceoffs, but went just 19-for-30 on clears and were beaten in the ground balls category to the Pioneers by a 46-31 margin.
With his third 10-point game of the season, Bowen became the program single-season leader in points with 75 (30 goals, 45 assists), breaking the record of 69 points set by Nate Raymond during the 2022 season. Royer finished with the third-most points in a season with 67 (31 goals, 36 assists).
Tusculum went up 4-0 after five minutes, with the highlight coming as Pecora stormed down the field, passed off to Royer and took a return feed that he fired into the net for the first-ever goal for a Pioneer keeper and a 3-0 lead.
The Pioneers led 6-2 after one quarter, then tacked on four goals in the first 4 1/2 minutes of the second quarter to build a 10-2 lead. Nuzzo scored three times in the final 4 1/2 minutes of the half to push the Pioneers in front 13-4 at intermission.
The Pioneers would stretch their lead out to 20-5 with just under six minutes left in the fourth quarter, before Hawkins scored three times in a three-minute stretch for the Wasps. The match was halted with 1:29 left after an injury to an Emory & Henry player.
Harrison and Royer each had five ground balls for the Pioneers, with Harrison, Fontenla, Collins, Jesse Brown and Aiden Lyman each contributing two of the Pioneers' 15 caused turnovers. Drake Vance won 13 faceoffs and had four ground balls for the Pioneers. Jaxon Blackshear won 11 faceoffs and had eight ground balls for the Wasps, with six ground balls for Noah Parrish and five for Mewes.
Pecora had nine saves in the first three quarters for the Pioneers, followed by Garrett Smith who had six saves without allowing a goal in eight minutes. Alex Germain had one save in the final 5 1/2 minutes for the Pioneers. For Emory & Henry, Mason Buttery played the entire match and finished with 17 saves.
Prior to the match, seniors Pecora, Vance and Nuzzo were honored for their final home contest with the Pioneers. Tusculum finished the regular season with a victory for the fourth time in the last six years.
