ROME -- It was a tale of two halves for the Lady Hawks as they fell to Tusculum 19-11 to open the 2016 season.

Shorter kept things close throughout the first half, opening the game with back-to-back goals to take a 2-0 lead. Crystal Marshall got things going with the first goal of the night with 28:37 to play, and Tayler Ferqueron followed seconds later with her first career goal on a free position attempt. The Pioneers answered with three consecutive goals to take the lead 3-2, but the Lady Hawks were there to answer as Marshall netted two goals in a minutes span to bring the advantage back into Shorter's favor 4-3.

Tusculum answered with three of their own to make it a 6-4 game with 3:16 to go in the first half, only to have the Lady Hawks cut the lead to one on Ashley Nuqui's first goal of the year 16 seconds later. In the final three minutes the Pioneers added two goals, while Marshall managed another score before time ran out to bring the score to 7-6 at the break.

Tusculum opened the second half with a goal at the 26:38 mark, but Shorter was there; tallying three consecutive goals to take the lead 9-8. McKinley Puckett and Rita Cave netted their first career goals during the span; while Marshall added her fifth of the game to give the Lady Hawks the lead with 21:47 to go. But, the lead was short lived as the Pioneers answered seconds later to tie the game on a goal from Savannah Elliot that sparked a 9-0 run from the Tusculum to bring their advantage to 17-9 with 8:52 remaining. Over the final minutes of the game Marshall added two more goals, before the Pioneers added two of their own for the 19-11 final score.

Tusculum outshot Shorter 36-25 in the game; while the Lady Hawks held the advantage 44-41 in groundballs and 19-12 in draw controls. Catherine Mitchner played the complete game in goal for Shorter tallying 15 saves.

The Lady Hawks will be back in action Monday, February 15, when they welcome Roberts Wesleyan to Ben Brady Field for a 4:00pm start.