WISE, Va. --- Caitlyn Schultz scored six goals and had an assist as UVA Wise defeated Tusculum University 14-9 in South Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse Wednesday afternoon at Carl Smith Stadium.
Noley Hiller had three goals and two assists and Logen Davis added two goals and two assists for the Cavaliers (13-3, 7-2 SAC), who never trailed in the contest to the Pioneers (8-7, 4-4 SAC), who despite the loss clinched the program's first SAC Tournament berth since 2018 following losses by Catawba and Coker on Wednesday.
Kayla Nuccio had three goals to lead the Pioneers, with two goals from Laura Nance Pickens and a goal and an assist from both Liberty Jones and Elisha Stack. Jessie Carolin-Vandenberg and Sophia Didzbalis also scored for the Pioneers, who were outshot 25-22 by the Cavaliers in the match.
The Cavaliers went up 5-1 in the first quarter with two goals from Schultz, and went up 6-1 early in the second quarter before a goal from Jones with 13:19 left in the first half. UVA Wise led 9-2 after a Davis goal with 4:03 remaining in the second quarter, but consecutive goals from Pickens and Didzbalis in the final four minutes brough the Pioneers within 9-4 at intermission.
Schultz added two more goals in the third quarter for the Cavaliers, while the Pioneers received goals from Nuccio and Carolin-Vandenberg to keep the margin at 12-6 in favor of UVA Wise heading into the fourth quarter. Tusculum was down 14-6 midway through the fourth quarter, but two goals from Nuccio and one from Pickens cut the margin to 14-9 with 5:11 remaining.
UVA Wise had a 23-13 advantage in ground balls over Tusculum, led by Abby Schrafft who had three ground balls and two caused turnovers. Celeste Raya had two ground balls and a caused turnover for the Pioneers, with Mya Halladay leading with three draw controls.
Tusculum was 12-for-19 on clears and had 21 turnovers in the match, while UVA Wise was 14-for-18 on clears and had 24 turnovers. The Pioneers were 3-for-10 on free-position shots with the Cavaliers going 2-for-5 on eight-meter attempts.
Emily White started in goal for the Pioneers and made two saves in the first 24 1/2 minutes, with Emery Dove making four saves in the final 35 1/2 minutes. Addie Donalson had eight saves in the victory for the Cavaliers.
Tusculum travels to Newberry on Saturday at 4 p.m. to take on the Wolves in an important match in the SAC standings. The winner will be the fifth seed in the upcoming SAC Tournament while the loser will qualify for the postseason as the sixth seed in the field.
