BOX SCORE

Salisbury, N.C.----The Wingate University men’s lacrosse team scored the first three goals of the game and never looked back, taking an 8-2 Deep South Conference victory over number 11 Catawba College Saturday night in Shuford Stadium and Kirkland Field.

Wingate is 7-7 overall and 4-2 in the DSC. Catawba falls to 9-3 overall and 4-2 in the DSC. The Bulldogs and the Indians will see each other again Tuesday, as Wingate hosts Catawba in the first round of the 2011 DSC tournament. The game will be played in Irwin Belk Stadium on the Wingate campus at a time to be announced.

Bulldog junior attack David Lee (Greensboro, N.C.) and sophomore attack Colin O’Donoghue (Cranberry Township, Pa.) had two goals and one assist each to lead the Wingate offense. The Bulldog defense came to play, as Wingate limited the high-flying Catawba offense to two goals. The Indians entered the contest with 136 goals in 11 games.

Three different players scored Wingate’s first three goals as the visiting Bulldogs took the 3-0 lead early in the second quarter. Wingate sophomore midfield Derek Watts (Winston-Salem, N.C.) scored only 54 seconds into the game to jump start the Bulldogs.

Wingate junior attack Chase Clifton (Lexington, N.C.) added a goal with four minutes left in the first quarter to give the visitors a 2-0 edge. Junior attack Bryan Bayliss (Lorton, Va.) finished the three-goal flurry (on an assist from O’Donoghue) with 11:17 remaining in the second stanza.

Catawba got a goal by junior attack Braden Artem (Acton, Ontario) in the final minute of the half. Indian junior midfield Freddie Turcio (Guilford, Conn.) tallied a goal at the 10:29 mark of the third quarter to get the hosts within a goal. Lee got the Wingate two-goal lead back with 3:41 left in the third and the Bulldogs added four unanswered scores in the fourth quarter to put the game away.

O’Donoghue and Lee did most of their damage in the second half. Wingate junior goalkeeper Danny Dlugozima (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) made 13 saves in goal for the Bulldogs. Catawba junior netminder Michael Pecchia (Coquitlam, B.C.) also stopped 13 shots in goal for the Indians. Catawba played most of the game without pre-season All-American attack Marty Tuohy (Weymouth, Mass.), who injured an ankle in Wednesday’s victory over Belmont Abbey College.

The teams were even with 30 shots apiece, while Wingate held a 43-32 edge in ground balls. Wingate freshman midfield Bryce Sneed (Apex, N.C.) helped the Bulldogs dominate the face-offs, winning 11 of his 13 attempts. Catawba won only three face-offs. Wingate went one-for-five on man-up tries, while not drawing a penalty of its own to deny the Indians any advantage situations.

(Thank you to Catawba SID Jim Lewis for his contributions to this story.)