SALISBURY, N.C. --- Catawba College defeated Tusculum University 22-8 in South Atlantic Conference men's lacrosse Saturday afternoon at Shuford Stadium.
Peyton Turner had four goals and four assists and Tanner Stout scored five goals for the 12th-ranked Indians (9-2, 4-2 SAC), who outshot the Pioneers (6-5, 2-5 SAC) by a 55-30 margin. Catawba scored the first six goals of the game and bookended with the final five goals of the contest.
Luke Bowen had two goals and two assists for the Pioneers, with three goals from Ben Hobday and a goal and an assist from Ben Royer. Preston Stewart also scored for the Pioneers, who were credited with a team goal in the second quarter when the Indians accidentally passed the ball into their own net.
Catawba scored three goals in the first two minutes and built a 6-0 lead after one quarter, before Stewart got the Pioneers on the board with 14:09 left in the second quarter. Hobday scored twice in the second quarter for the Pioneers, including a man-up goal with 3:02 remaining, but goals from Turner and Andrew Crumpacker pushed the Indians on top 10-5 at halftime.
Catawba received two goals from Statton Rehrer early in the third quarter, part of an eight-goal barrage by the Indians that was countered by goals from Royer, Hobday and Bowen for the Pioneers. The Indians led 18-8 after three quarters and tacked on four more in the fourth, the final coming with 5:27 remaining.
Jayden Rios led the Pioneers with eight ground balls and was 12-for-22 on faceoffs in the match, with five ground balls from Blake Harrison. Cael Petroff had seven ground balls for Catawba and went 15-for-28 on faceoffs, while Owen Conway had three ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers.
Catawba had a 36-33 advantage on ground balls, with Tusculum turning the ball over 22 times to 12 for the Indians. The Pioneers were 17-for-20 on clears and the Indians finished 23-for-26. Tusculum had the only two man-up opportunities in the match, both in the second quarter, and went 1-for-2.
Garrett Smith played the first three quarters in goal for the Pioneers and had 13 saves, with four saves from Ryan McKeown in the fourth quarter. Ben LoPiccolo played into the fourth quarter for the Indians and made nine saves, with Broden Clemens-Ellison not facing a shot on goal in the final 11 minutes.
The Pioneers will host Alabama Huntsville on Wednesday, April 8 at 6 p.m. on Senior Night at Pioneer Field.
