WISE, Va. --- Hayley Bartlett scored four of her five goals in the second half as Tusculum College erased a five-goal deficit to defeat the University of Virginia-Wise 22-18 in Women's lacrosse action Tuesday afternoon.
Alycea Ohl scored four goals and Rachel Holmes and Savannah Elliott netted three apiece for the Pioneers (4-0), who had seven different players with multiple-goal games and have scored at least 19 goals in each of their four matches.
Rachel Cole and Kristin Gobbi finished with four goals each for the Cavaliers (0-1), who scored nine unanswered goals to take a 13-8 lead before the Pioneers reeled off 14 of the last 19 goals over a span of 22 minutes to come away with the win.
Tusculum jumped to a quick 3-0 lead after seven minutes of play on goals by Elliott, Ohl and Holmes, and led 6-2 with 11:46 to go in the first half following Elliott's second goal of the day. A goal by Erin Sims with 3:54 remaining pushed the Pioneer lead to 8-4, but McKayla Graham scored a pair of goals and Cole added one as the Cavaliers pulled within 8-7 at halftime.
Six different players found the net for Virginia-Wise in the first eight minutes of the second half as the Cavaliers moved in front 13-8, but goals from Holmes, Kelsey Crow and Bartlett cut the deficit to 13-11 with 15:50 to play.
The Cavs restored their four-goal lead on tallies from Emily Henneberry and Annie Hanson, but the Pioneers exploded for five goals in a span of 2 minutes, 22 seconds to take a 16-15 lead with 11:13 left. Ohl had two goals during the run while Bartlett, Elliott and Holmes also tallied for the Pioneers during the surge.
Cole scored on a free position shot with exactly 10 minutes left to tie the game at 16-16, but the Pioneers scored five of the next six goals. Ohl put home the go-ahead tally with 8:24 left, followed by goals from Bartlett, Cheyenne Bray, Bartlett and Crow for a 21-17 lead at the 2:59 mark. Cole and Brooke Hardy exchanged goals in the final 2 1/2 minutes to set the final score.
Bray and Sims each had two goals and two assists for the Pioneers, while Crow had two goals as well. Holmes also dished out a pair of assists to go along with her three-goal performance.
Graham finished the day with three goals for the Cavaliers, while Henneberry had two goals and two assists. Hanson also netted two goals for the Cavaliers, who took 29 shots on the afternoon to 34 by the Pioneers.
On defense, the Pioneers were led by Crow, who had four ground balls, three draw controls and three caused turnovers. Christen Craig also had four ground balls for the Pioneers, while Holmes and Bray had five draw controls apiece. The Cavaliers were paced by Lauren Donahue, who had four ground balls and five caused turnovers, while Cole had a game-high six draw controls along with four ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers.
In goal, Brooke Wagner placed 43 minutes in goal for the Pioneers and made three saves, while Kaele Lawless finished with one stop in nearly 17 minutes of action. Melanie Reilly played all 60 minutes in goal for Virginia-Wise and made nine saves.
Tusculum will be back home on Monday, Feb. 29 to host Regis in the Pioneers' first-ever meeting with the school from Denver, Colorado.
- TC -
