HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Tusculum Pioneers scored the first four goals of the game and then held off a late Lady Railsplitter rally as Tusculum downed LMU 14-8 Wednesday afternoon at the LMU Lacrosse Complex.

LMU (6-7, 1-5 SAC) had a slow start offensively and Tusculum took advantage, scoring four goals over the first 23 minutes of the contest Goals by Casey Kelly and Zoe Zervos cut the deficit in half before a late Pioneer goal gave them the 5-2 lead at the half.

Amara Moss cut the lead to two with her quick strike as the second half began, but TC would score twice more before Moss scored again at the 22:02 mark. The teams then traded a pair of goals each over the next eight minutes, with goals by Erin DePaul and Kennedy Buechner cutting the lead to 9-6 with 14:56 remaining.

The Pioneers then scored four unanswered goals to extend the lead to 13-6 with 8:30 left in the game. Moss and Casey Kelly would pick up goals down the stretch and TC would pick up an insurance goal with 6:12 left. LMU had several attempts to score but the TC defense held each time and the Pioneers went into a stall offense when they had possession to milk the clock.

Moss led LMU for the day with three goals, her seventh hat trick of the season. Kelly added in a brace with her two goals, while DePaul, Buechner, and Zervos chipped in one goal each. Zervos led the team with six ground balls. Goalie Shannon Novak had eight saves.

LMU led in shots (41-24), shots on goal (27-22), ground balls (18-17) and turnovers (18-17). They dominated the Pioneers in draw controls, winning 20 to TC's 4. The Pioneers led in saves (19-8) and fouls (24-16).

LMU will host Newberry Saturday afternoon. It will be Senior Day for Jessie Graham, Autumn Beddington, and Shannon Novak. They are the final three members of LMU's first women's lacrosse team that are still playing.