GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – The 20th-ranked and three-seeded Tusculum Pioneers (11-3) shut down the six-seeded Railsplitters (8-7) in an 11-4 win in the quarterfinal round of the South Atlantic Conference Men's Lacrosse Championship on Tuesday night at Pioneer Park. The loss brings the historic 2017 campaign to a close for Lincoln Memorial, while Tusculum advances to face two-seeded Wingate on Thursday in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Railsplitters, who finish the season with a program-record eight wins and were making their first-ever postseason appearance, were outshot by a slim 32-31 margin while posting a 20-17 edge in shots on goal. However, Tusculum's All-SAC second team goalie Kevin Haggerty matched a season-high mark with 16 saves to lead the Pioneers to victory. That included nine saves in the first half, which helped the home team race out to an 8-2 lead at the break.
Nick Borriello paced the Railsplitters with two goals, while
Robert Tucker had a goal on a match-high nine shots and six shots on goal.
Billy Kopsky scored the only other goal for Lincoln Memorial. The Pioneers kept All-SAC honorees
Adam Golia and
Kyle Arcuri out of the scoring column and limited that duo to just five shots and two shots on goal.
Joe Medel made six saves and allowed 11 goals over 60 minutes of action in the final match of his career.
Ben Boyd led the Pioneers with four goals and an assist, while Dallas Wade had two goals and an assist. Liam Macdonald pitched in two goals, while Tyler Klarner and Chris Ryan had a goal and two assists apiece. As a team, Tusculum went 4-for-6 on man-up opportunities compared to LMU's 1-for-6 mark.
It marked Tusculum's second win over the Railsplitters of the 2017 campaign, as the Pioneers pulled out a 13-12 overtime victory in Harrogate on March 29. The win pushed Tusculum to 3-1 in the all-time series. The previous three matches in the series were decided by just a single goal.
The Pioneers scored twice in the first 1:12 of the match, using goals from Wade and Macdonald to race out to a 2-0 lead. The Railsplitters cut the deficit in half on Tucker's man-up goal at the 12:22 mark, but Tusculum ended the quarter with back-to-back man-up goals from Wade and Ryan to establish a 5-1 lead at the end of one.
Borriello put the Railsplitters on the board again with a goal two minutes into the second quarter, but that would be the last goal of the half for the visitors. Boyd scored two times after Macdonald's man-up goal to help the Pioneers take a commanding 8-2 lead into the break.
The two teams combined for just five goals in the second half. Goals from Kopsky (10:14) and Borriello (3:52) closed the gap to 8-4 late in the third quarter, but the Railsplitters wouldn't score again after that. Boyd scored with 59 seconds left in the third to make it 9-4 before the Pioneers blanked Lincoln Memorial in the fourth quarter to complete the 11-4 victory.
