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GREENEVILLE –  The Tusculum University men’s lacrosse team has been crowned the NCAA Division II statistical champion in man-up offense, according to the final national stats report of the 2022 season.

 

The Pioneers were the only team in Division II to score on more than half of their extra-man opportunities, converting at a 60.8 percent rate (31-for-51) for first-year head coach Rodney Tapp. Tusculum ranked second among all NCAA schools in extra-man success, behind only Notre Dame which was successful at a 67.7 percent clip (21-for-31).

 

Tusculum scored at least one man-up goal in 15 of its 16 games, including a school single-game record seven man-up goals at Newberry on March 12. The Pioneers had two or more extra-man goals in seven games, and converted at a remarkable 70.8 percent rate (17-for-24) in 10 South Atlantic Conference contests.

 

The Pioneers’ 60.8 percent success rate is third-best in a single season in NCAA Division II history, trailing only Tampa at 69.2 percent (27-for-39) in 2017 and Adelphi at 62.5 percent (15-for-24) in 2021. The NCAA statistical championship in the first in the nine-season history of the Pioneer program.

 

Individually, junior Tristan Kirkham was tied for fifth in Division II with a program single-season record 10 man-up goals. Junior Jordan Daniel added seven man-up goals while seniors Kale Lawrence and Nate Raymond scored five apiece. Grad student Lorenz Brown scored four times with the extra man for the Pioneers.

 

Tusculum finished the season with a 9-7 overall record and a 3-7 record in SAC competition. Six of the Pioneers’ seven losses came to teams that were nationally-ranked at some point during the 2022 season.