GREENEVILLE, TN – The UVA Wise lacrosse team needed a win at Tusculum to seal a berth in this weekend's South Atlantic Conference Tournament, and they took care of business with the 18-12 win over the Pioneers in the regular season finale.
The team has locked in the sixth and final spot in the SAC Tournament and will play at Newberry in the quarterfinal round Saturday at 4 p.m.
It will be the ninth postseason appearance for the Highland Cavaliers out of ten opportunities and today's win was the program's 99
th since its inception in 2015.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Result: UVA Wise 18, Tusculum 12
Records: UVA Wise (9-8, 6-5 SAC); Tusculum (8-9, 4-7 SAC)
Location: Greeneville, TN | Pioneer Field
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Tusculum took the early 2-0 lead before
Grace Golatt found the back of the net for the Cavs. The Pioneers scored again three minutes later, followed by
Caitlyn Schultz five minutes later. After TU made the lead 4-2 on a free position goal, UVA Wise scored back to back goals by
Kaylea Paterson and
Logen Davis to tie the game at 4-4 after one quarter.
- Davis and
Abby Stoffelen opened the second quarter with a pair of goals seventeen seconds apart, but Tusculum would roll off three unanswered goals to lead 7-6 with 7:36 remaining in the half.
Noley Hiller and Schultz then combined for three goals (two by Hiller) to close out the half and give the Cavs the 9-7 lead at halftime.
- The Pioneers scored twice to open the third quarter before the Cavs caught fire and rolled off five straight goals on a run that extended into the fourth quarter.
- The teams then traded goals over the next 10 minutes with the Cavs maintaining at least a four goal lead before
Alexis Hilstrom and
Leslie Clay each scored in the final three minutes to seal the 18-12 win for UVA Wise.
- Tusculum had a pair of hat tricks from Kayla Nuccio and Liberty Jones. Goalie Emily White had nine saves while allowing 18 goals.
GETTING WISE
- Four Cavaliers (Golatt, Davis, Hiller, and Schultz) had a hat trick, with Golatt scoring her 100th career goal via a free position shot with 7:26 left in the game. She becomes the seventh 100 goal scorer in program history. Stoffelen and Paterson each had a brace (two goals).
- Paterson and Davis had three assists each, while Stoffelen and Schultz added in two. With the two assists and two goals, Stoffelen hit the 150 point mark for her career and ranks sixth all-time. She trails Katie Allen (2019-23) by seven points.
- The Cavs out-drew the Pioneers 23-11, with
Issie Brown winning seven and Golatt six. With her first draw control win of the game Brown passed the 150 career draws mark and is fifth all-time in that category with 156. Golatt's six keeps her five ahead of Brown in fourth place with 161. The 23 team draws are the third-most in a game in program history.
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Paige Rodgers led the team with five of their 27 ground balls, while
Taryn Moreno picked up four to surpass the 100 ground ball mark and pass Sydney Steinberg's (2016-19) 102 and rank ninth all-time with 103.
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Addie Donalson improves to 8-8 on the season as she allowed 12 goals and had eight saves.
- UVA Wise improves to 7-3 all-time vs. Tusculum and 4-2 in Greeneville.
- The win is UVA Wise's 99th in program history and the 99th in Wise for Coach Dennehy as she is the only coach in program history. Her career total overall, counting six seasons at Queens, is 147-134.
- The last time the Cavs had a five game winning streak was the 2019 season, when they enjoyed a six game streak. The longest was an eight game streak in 2018. This marks the fourth time the Cavs have had a five game or better winning streak.
UP NEXT
The Cavs have earned the six seed in the SAC Tournament and will face third seeded Newberry in Newberry, South Carolina, at 4 p.m. Saturday. This will mark the fourth appearance in the SAC Tournament by UVA Wise and the second consecutive season they have faced Newberry. The winner will move on to face #2 seed Limestone in Gaffney, South Carolina, on Wednesday the 30th.
