GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Lewis University scored twice in the final minute to take a 13-11 victory over Tusculum University in non-conference women's lacrosse Friday afternoon at Pioneer Field.
Ravyn Jimenez scored the tiebreaking goal with 58.3 seconds left and Ryan Paterson added an insurance goal 19 seconds later for the Flyers (5-3), who let five leads slip away to the Pioneers (4-5) including the tying goal from Carmella Nilsson with 1:16 remaining.
Nilsson and Laura Nance Pickens had three goals apiece for the Pioneers, who received a goal and three assists from Elisha Stack. Jessie Carolin-Vandenberg, Mya Halladay, Liberty Jones and Sophia Didzbalis also scored for the Pioneers, with two assists from Marissa Fink.
Eliana Cappellini led the Flyers with four goals and an assist, with three goals and an assist from Jade McKinnon and two goals and two assists from Amelia Procyk. Lewis outshot Tusculum 28-25 and held a slight 23-20 advantage in ground balls in the match.
The Flyers went up 2-0 after three minutes, but the Pioneers tied the game on goals 42 seconds apart from Pickens and Halladay with 8:04 left in the first quarter. Two goals in just under two minutes from McKinnon gave Lewis a 4-2 lead after one quarter. In the second quarter, Didzbalis and Pickens scored to tie the match at 4-4, and the Pioneers took their first lead at 6-5 on a Stack goal with 3:45 remaining. Cappellini would respond with 1:55 remaining to send the teams to intermission tied at 6-6.
Tusculum built an 8-6 lead on goals by Carolin-Vandenberg and Nilsson in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the third quarter, but Lewis came back into an 8-8 tie just a minute later. Pickens scored her third goal of the game with 4:34 remaining to give the Pioneers a 9-8 lead that they carried into the fourth, but two goals from Cappellini put the Flyers ahead 10-9 with 10:40 left.
Lewis would hold the lead until Nilsson knotted the game at 10-10 with 5:23 left, but McKinnon responded 45 seconds later to put the Flyers back on top 11-10. Nilsson tied the score at 11-11 with 1:16 to go, but a yellow card against the Pioneers on the ensuing draw gave the Flyers the advantage for the rest of regulation, and Lewis cashed in on goals from Jimenez and Paterson.
Halladay had three draw controls and three ground balls for the Pioneers, while Celeste Raya and Jones each led Tusculum with two caused turnovers. The Flyers were led by Daniella Winterik with three ground balls and two caused turnovers, with seven draw controls and two caused turnovers for McKinnon.
Lewis had 23 turnovers in the match to 22 for Tusculum, and the Flyers had 14 draw controls to 11 for the Pioneers. Tusculum went 18-for-25 on clear attempts, and Lewis was 15-for-21 on clears in the match.
Emily White played just over 34 minutes in goal for the Pioneers and had three saves, with Emery Dove making six saves in 25 1/2 minutes of relief. For Lewis, Sophia Fountain played the entire game and had nine saves.
The Pioneers will host Shorter in a non-conference match on Monday, March 23 beginning at 6 p.m. at Pioneer Field, in a match rescheduled from February 21. The Hawks won their first match of the season after seven losses on Tuesday with a 15-7 victory over Southern Wesleyan.
