Springfield, Ohio – The Transylvania men's lacrosse team was outfoxed by the Wittenberg University Tigers, 21-8 on Saturday afternoon at The Steemer.

In a fierce nonconference matchup against the Tigers of the North Coast Athletic Conference, the Pioneers clashed with Wittenberg chest to chest, fighting their way to a 3-3 tie early in the second quarter before Wittenberg reeled off six unanswered goals to craft a permanent lead.

The Pioneers suffered their second loss of the season to fall to 1-2 overall on the season while Wittenberg claimed their second win of the year to improve to 2-2.

Trenton Sneed made his season debut for the Pioneers with the first score of the day at the 7:12 mark to tie up the match at 1-1. The Tigers quickly countered with back-to-back goals before Kayd Aquino found Sneed for one of his two assists on the day to cut the Wittenberg lead to 3-2 at the end of the first quarter.

Aquino then delivered an equalizer just over one minute into the second quarter to square up Wittenberg at 3-3. Over the next eight minutes, Wittenberg found the back of the net with ease to claim a 9-3 lead.

The Pioneers quelled the run just before halftime when AJ Teague set up Bryce Lowe for a goal, bringing the halftime score to 9-4 in favor of the home team.

Wittenberg continued its palpable midgame momentum with an eight-goal quarter in the third period to put the game out of reach.

The Pioneers had their most productive offensive quarter in the fourth quarter as Transylvania delivered back-to-back goals from Corbyn Buchart along with one goal apiece from Dalton Hubbs and Aquino.

T.J. Toivonen led the Pioneers with six ground balls and three caused turnovers. Connor Haney picked up the loss in goal for the Pioneers in his first career start, recording eight saves. Transy was 22 for 24 on clears while the Tigers were 19 for 22 on clear opportunities.

Transylvania returns home for its next contest on Wednesday, March 4 against the Depauw University Tigers in another nonconference test. The Pioneers will face-off with the Tigers at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time from Pat Deacon Stadium.

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