GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University women's lacrosse team defeated Converse University 16-8 in non-conference action Tuesday night at Pioneer Field.
Elisha Stack scored five goals and had an assist, with three goals apiece from Mya Halladay and Liberty Jones. Carmella Nilsson had two goals and two assists, Jessie Carolin-Vandenberg tallied two goals and Kayla Nuccio had a goal and two assists for the Pioneers (2-1), who outshot the Valkyries (1-2) by a 32-18 margin in their home opener.
Becky Reinhard scored four goals and Hailey Obenchain collected three goals for the Valkyries, who finished with 23 turnovers in the game to just nine for the Pioneers. Tusculum also had a 24-9 edge in ground balls and forced Converse into eight failed clears in 20 opportunities.
Tusculum scored twice in the first five minutes on goals from Jones and Halladay before Karter Lauer got Converse on the board with 9:36 left in the opening quarter. Goals from Stack and Nilsson 31 seconds apart gave the Pioneers a 4-1 lead, and Halladay and Carolin-Vandenberg tacked on goals in the final three minutes as the Pioneers led 6-1 after one quarter.
The Pioneers stretched their lead to 10-2 on two goals apiece from Jones and Stack, and pushed the advantage to 11-3 at halftime on a goal from Nilsson with just over three minutes remaining in the second quarter.
In the third quarter, the Pioneers kept the Valkyries off the scoreboard with the exception of a goal from Reinhard with 1:22 remaining in the period. However, goals from Nuccio, Halladay and Carolin-Vandenberg extended Tusculum's lead to 14-4 heading to the fourth.
The Pioneers would get two goals in a two-minute span from Stack to go up 16-5 with 8:12 left, but the Valkyries would put a dent into the final margin as Obenchain scored twice and Reinhard once in the final three minutes.
Marissa Fink had four ground balls and two draw controls for the Pioneers, with three ground balls apiece from Halladay, Caroline Rauhuff and Sophia Didzbalis. Nilsson paced the Pioneers with two caused turnovers, and Didzbalis had a team-high three draw controls. Converse had a 15-10 advantage in draws thanks to Lauer, who collected seven to lead all players.
Emily White played the first 55 1/2 minutes in goal for the Pioneers and had six saves on 11 shots on goal, with Emery Dove in net for the final 4 1/2 minutes. Abigail Skee had 11 saves in goal for the Valkyries.
Tusculum will be back home to host Shorter on Saturday, Feb. 21 beginning at 1 p.m. at Pioneer Field. The Hawks will carry an 0-4 record into their match with Piedmont on Wednesday afternoon.
