Colburn Connelly scored the winning goal with 22.9 seconds remaining as Young Harris College regrouped after a stunning Tusculum University rally to escape with a 14-13 victory in men’s lacrosse Saturday afternoon at a rain-soaked Pioneer Field.
The Mountain Lions (1-1) led 12-6 with four minutes left in the third quarter and held a 13-10 lead with 2 1/2 minutes to go, but the Pioneers (0-1) finished off the rally as freshman Chase Penner scored his seventh goal of the day with 1:09 remaining. However, Young Harris won the ensuing faceoff and worked the ball around to Connelly, whose third goal of the day would be the game-winner.
Penner scored his seven goals on seven shot attempts, with five of his goals assisted by freshman Ben Royer including four during the late-game rally. Clay Mendez had two goals and two assists for the Pioneers, who also received goals from Bryce Grimball, Ben Hobday, Blake Harrison and Royer.
Tommy Chriszt led the Mountain Lions with three goals and four assists, with two goals and an assist each from Grady Stokes and Dylan Young. Young Harris outshot Tusculum 33-24 and had a 19-10 edge in faceoffs in the match.
Both teams were prolific with the man advantage, with Tusculum going 4-for-5 and Young Harris 2-for-3. Three of Penner’s goals came with the man up, while Chriszt scored twice with the extra man for the Mountain Lions.
The seven goals by Penner are the most-ever in a game by a Tusculum freshman, and are tied for the second-most goals in a game in program history with Keegan Bell, who had seven goals against Lees McRae on Feb. 9, 2019. The record is nine goals scored by Nate Raymond at Emmanuel on Feb. 19, 2022.
The teams combined for nine goals in the first quarter, with the Pioneers going up 1-0 after one minute on a goal from Royer. Two goals from Penner and one from Mendez after a Hobday tally stretched the Tusculum lead to 5-2 with 3:01 left in the quarter, but Jacob Haas and Stokes responded for the Mountain Lions to cut the deficit to 5-4.
Both keepers played all 60 minutes in goal, with Tusculum’s Brenden Pecora making 15 saves and Dylan Wilbur earning eight saves for Young Harris.
The Pioneers will play their next four matches on the road, starting Friday, Feb. 16 at Alabama Huntsville beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
