Box Score

Newberry, S.C.----Wingate University men’s soccer All-American Luke Mulholland (Preston, England) scored three goals to lead the Bulldogs to a 3-1 South Atlantic Conference victory over Newberry College Wednesday afternoon. The number 20 team in this week’s NSCAA/adidas® NCAA Division II top 25 poll, Wingate is 7-1 overall and 3-0 in the SAC. Newberry is 1-9-2 overall and 0-4 in the SAC.

“It was a great result under harsh conditions,” Wingate head coach Gary Hamill says. “The pitch certainly did not favor our style, but I am happy the guys fought their way to a win.”

Mulholland got the scoring started 33:54 into the first half, taking a cross from senior forward Junior Nyemb (Douala, Cameroon) and chipping it over the Newberry goalkeeper. The Bulldogs would take the 1-0 lead into intermission, holding a 9-5 edge in shots.

Newberry would answer 10 minutes into the second half, as freshman forward Adrian Ochoa (East Point, Ga.) netted his fourth goal of the season to make it 1-1.

Wingate took the lead for good 10 minutes later, with Mulholland taking a loose ball from the goalie and finding the back of the net for the second time on the day to make it 2-1.

Mulholland added some insurance with less than five minutes remaining in the match, taking a feed from sophomore forward Paulo Brunetto (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and netting his team-best seventh goal of the year to secure the hat trick.

The Bulldogs out-shot Newberry 20-10, while holding a 10-4 edge in shots on goal. Wingate also had a decisive 12-1 advantage on corner kicks on the afternoon. Junior goalkeeper Joey Calandra (Mount Pleasant, S.C.) collected three saves for the Bulldogs. Freshman goalkeeper Joel Johnson (Sangre Grande, Trinidad & Tobago) racked up seven saves for Newberry.

The Bulldogs are back in action Saturday, hosting Brevard College at 4 p.m. Newberry travels to Francis Marion Friday for a 4 p.m. start.