Lions drop hard fought contest against Tusculum

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - The Mars Hill (2-6, 0-3 SAC) women's lacrosse team lost 16-13 to South Atlantic Conference foe Tusculum (3-8, 1-2 SAC) on the road Wednesday evening.

The Lions began the second half trailing 7-4. Mars Hill scored four of the first five goals in the first 4:26 of the half. Gabby Gianikos scored her first goal as a Lion 20 seconds into the second. Twenty-two seconds later, Hailey Sanders put the Pioneers up by four. Three straight goals for Mars Hill, including two from Olivia Hokanson pulled the Lions within one. A free position from Megann McKinney put Tusculum up by two, but the Lions roared back to tie the game at nine with goals from Gianikos and Kiersten Foust.

Despite battling back to tie the game, the Lions conceded three straight goals to the Pioneers to trail 12-9 with 17:11 remaining in the contest. Rebecca Dallman's tally with 12:26 remaining pulled the Lions within two, but that would be the closest the Lions would come for the remainder of the contest.

Tusculum scored four of the last seven goals in the game with three coming from Sierra Haas. Scout Black, Hokanson and Foust had the Mars Hill markers.

Mars Hill trailed 5-0 in the first 7:16 of the contest. Two goals from Emily Gleason and goals from McKinney, Bailey Lowery and a man-advantage tally from Eliza Ryan gave Tusculum the early lead. The teams would trade three goals apiece down the stretch, beginning with Molly Tobias' marker to put Mars Hill on the scoreboard with 17:55 left in the first half. Goals from Stanton, Hokanson, Gleason and a free position goal from Black closed out the first half.

Hokanson (4g) and Gianikos (2g, 2a) led the Lions with four points apiece. Gleason (5g) and Haas (3g, 2a) paced the Pioneers with five points each.

Kate Pipkin earned the win, making 13 saves on 25 shots. Alexandria Holleran made 10 saves on 26 shots in the loss.

Mars Hill takes on Catawba on the road on Saturday, March 31st. The game is slated to begin at 12 p.m.