GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University women's lacrosse team will look to end a losing skid when the Pioneers host Converse University and Lenoir-Rhyne University in home games this week.
The Pioneers will play Converse in a non-conference game on Tuesday at 7 p.m., then will return to their South Atlantic Conference schedule for the remainder of the season starting with a visit from Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday 1 p.m. at Pioneer Field.
Tusculum dropped an 18-6 decision at home to unbeaten Florida Tech on Wednesday, then fell 13-10 at Newberry in a SAC matchup on Saturday for their third straight loss. The Pioneers are 2-5 overall and 0-2 in SAC action heading into this week's games.
PROFILING THE PIONEERS
Junior Tia Tuininga continues to lead the Pioneers in scoring with 22 goals and seven assists for 29 points in seven games. Tuininga has kept her scoring streaks alive, having recorded a goal in 15 straight games and in 19 of her 20 career contests. She had three goals against Florida Tech and two goals against Newberry, while adding a total of four ground balls and five draw controls in the two games. Tuininga is seventh in the SAC in both goals and points and ranks fourth in shots on goal with 38.
Sophomore Lucy Brewer scored a career-high five goals and had an assist at Newberry to boost her season totals to 12 goals and four assists for 16 points. Brewer has scored a goal in six of the Pioneers' seven games, and she ranks 10th in the SAC with 25 draw controls. Junior Kylie Marek has 11 goals and five assists for 16 points, and is seventh in the conference with 26 draw controls. Senior Emily Youngblood has 10 goals and three assists for 13 points and is third on the team with 21 draw controls, and is tied for second on the team with Tuininga with six caused turnovers.
Senior Harley Smith leads the Pioneer defense with 19 ground balls and 10 caused turnovers, ranking sixth in the conference in ground balls and 11th in caused turnovers. Smith has had at least one caused turnover in all seven games for the Pioneers. Junior Kamryn McNeil, who has scored five goals on offense, has 12 ground balls along with sophomore Morgan Correia, while grad student Bethany Thomas has seven ground balls and four caused turnovers.
Senior goalkeeper Taylor Floyd made a career-high 15 saves against Newberry on Saturday, and ranks fourth in the SAC with 57 saves and seventh in save percentage at .471.
Tusculum is ninth in the SAC in goals per game at 11.43 and ranks 10th in goals against average at 13.43. The Pioneers are third in the conference in total saves with 78, and rank second in the conference in shooting percentage (.491). Tusculum leads the SAC in shooting accuracy, putting 82.8 percent of its shot attempts on goal.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Converse (0-5) dropped its fifth straight with a 21-19 loss to Southern Wesleyan in its Conference Carolinas opener on Saturday. The 19 goals scored by the Valkyries were a season high, which included a career-high nine goals from junior Cassidy O'Neill. Senior Libby Stevens had three goals and four assists and junior Haleigh McSwain added three goals and an assist for Converse, which scored on 19 of its 30 shots on goal.
Stevens leads the Valkyries with 22 points on 10 goals and 12 assists, while O'Neill has a team-high 18 goals and Brenna Everette has scored 13 goals. Grad student Ciriaca Petitto leads the defense for the Valkyries with 25 ground balls and nine caused turnovers. In goal, junior Madalynn Brunner has started all five games and has an 18.33 goals against average with a .447 save percentage on 55 saves.
Converse is averaging 11.8 goals per game and has given up 18.8 goals per game through five games. The Valkyries are clearing at 65.4 percent (51-for-78) and have scored on 41.5 percent of their free-position shots (17-for-41).
Tusculum has won all three previous meetings with Converse, but the teams have not met since 2017 when the Pioneers picked up a 19-13 win at home on Feb. 16. The Pioneers have won the three games over the Valkyries by an average score of 18-11.
Lenoir-Rhyne (3-4, 1-0 SAC) defeated Montevallo 8-5 in a non-conference road game on Saturday. Sophomore Ellie Campbell had three goals and an assist as the Bears outscored the Falcons 5-2 in the second half. Senior Teanna Sieben had 14 saves in goal for the Bears, who were outshot 26-16 in the game.
The Bears have struggled on offense, scoring in double figures just once in their first seven games. Sophomore Jolan Morey is the top scorer with 20 points on 12 goals and eight assists, while junior Suzy Smith has a team-best 13 goals. Sophomore Kaitlyn Cavanaugh has scored eight goals and nine assists, while Campbell has 11 goals and has a team-high 15 draw controls.
On defense, senior Isabelle Dunnam has collected 17 ground balls to rank 11th in the conference and is third in the SAC with 18 caused turnovers. She has at least two ground balls and one caused turnover in each of the Bears' seven games. Sieben has been the only goalkeeper to play for the Bears this season, and she has an 11.43 goals against average and a .494 save percentage with 78 saves. Sieben is third in the SAC in total saves and fifth in save percentage.
The Bears are 10th in the 11-team conference in goals per game at 9.14, and are last in draw controls per game (9.71). Lenoir-Rhyne ranks eighth in the conference in shooting accuracy (79.7 percent on goal) but rank third in save percentage at .494. The only game that the Bears reached double figures was in a 19-8 win over Coker on March 5 in their only SAC game of the year to date.
Lenoir-Rhyne leads the all-time series over Tusculum by a 6-0 margin, scoring at least 14 goals in every win while holding the Pioneers to less than 10 goals five times. The closest result for the Pioneers was a 16-14 setback at Pioneer field on March 19, 2016. Last year, the Bears beat the Pioneers 14-9 to improve to 4-0 at home against Tusculum.
FOLLOW THE PIONEERS
Live stats are available for all home Tusculum University women's lacrosse matches. Links to stats and video for home and away matches are posted at tusculumpioneers.com.
