Lions rally late, fall to Pioneers in conference play

MARS HILL, N.C. - The Mars Hill men's lacrosse team (1-4, 0-2 SAC) was felled by South Atlantic Conference rival Tusculum (4-1, 1-0 SAC) 15-13 inside the Ammons Family Athletic Center and Meares Stadium Wednesday night.

A seven-goal third quarter for the Pioneers propelled them to their first conference win of the season.  After Mars Hill tied and then took the lead by scoring the first two goals of the frame with markers from Zac Carrigan and Tremain Hill, Tusculum began their run.  Scoring seven straight, the Pioneers took a 13-7 lead into the final 10 seconds of the third.  Keegan Bell scored three of his game-high seven goals in the run.

Carrigan, who tallied in the final ten seconds of the third, sparked a four-goal run for Mars Hill that pulled the Lions within two with 12:48 left in the contest.  The Pioneers' Lorenz Brown put a halt to the Lions' run momentarily before two goals from Spencer Andrews drew the Lions within one with 3:23 remaining.

Tusculum added an insurance marker with under three minutes to play when Liam Macdonald netted his hat-trick marker.

Bell opened the game for Tusculum with two goals, but a three-goal run by Mars Hill provided the Lions a 3-2 lead with under five minutes to play in the first quarter.  Bell and Braden Elam scored in the final 3:49 of the first to give the Pioneers the lead heading into the second stanza.

Each team netted two goals in the second, with Bell and Macdonald bookending the scoring for the Pioneers while Andrews and Jackson Courson scored for Mars Hill.

Macdonald (3g, 3a) had six points in the game followed by Elam's five (2g, 3a).  Carrigan (4g, 1a) led the Lions with five points on the night.  Andrews netted a hat-trick and added an assist for a four-point evening.

The Lions will host Walsh on Saturday, March 9th in non-conference play inside the Ammons Family Athletic Center and Meares Stadium.  Faceoff is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.