Tusculum Snaps Lions Three Game Winning Streak
GREENEVILLE, TENN. – The Mars Hill lacrosse team saw its three-game win streak come to an end at the hands of Tusculum Wednesday afternoon at Pioneer Field.
GREENEVILLE, TENN. – The Mars Hill lacrosse team saw its three-game win streak come to an end at the hands of Tusculum Wednesday afternoon at Pioneer Field. The Lions, who dropped the contest 15-5, fell to 3-9 overall and 3-5 in the league while TC improved to 4-8, 3-4.
Dima Ferriera led the offense on the evening with three goals to go along with a pair of groundballs. Clay Peregoy and Paxton Turner each contributed five groundballs apiece and Chase Pretti-Pearsall collected four grounders and tallied a goal in the losing effort. Ryan Kearney played all 60 minutes in the cage, producing five saves and two grounders.
The Lions struck first in the opening quarter. Ferriera collected a groundball off of a missed shot and maneuvered his way towards the goal before blasting his 11th score of the season past the keeper to give MHU a 1-0 lead at the 12:41 mark. Three quick scores over the next six minutes gave the Pioneers a 3-1 lead with 6:18 remaining in the first. Jake Trafton added his fourth goal of the year with nine ticks left in the frame to cut the deficit to 3-2.
Tusculum started the second frame with a fury, tallying two goals over the first minute and a half to balloon its lead to 5-2. A costly turnover deep in its own zone by Mars Hill led to another score from TC, making the score 6-2 with five and a half left in the first half.
Not wanting the game to get out of hand, the Blue and Gold found some quick offense, netting two goal within a minute of each other. Ferriera found the back of the net at the 3:56 mark before Pretti-Pearsall blasted one past the keeper to cut the Pioneers lead in half.
However, Tusculum reeled off three consecutive goals to take a comfortable 9-4 lead into the intermission. The Lions held a slim 15-14 advantage on shots in the first half, but TC won 10-of-14 face offs.
The Pioneers outscored the Lions 6-1 in the second half to capture the dominant 15-5 win. Andrew Kransberger led TC with four goals and Dallas Wade chipped in three.
The Lions will step out of conference on Saturday, April 16 as they play host to Belmont Abbey College. First face off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
