Wingate, N.C----Wingate redshirt sophomore attack Shannon O'Neal (Severna Park, Md.) netted a team-best five total goals to lead the Bulldogs to a 16-13 South Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse victory over the Tusculum College Pioneers on Graham Gill Field at the Irwin Belk Track Complex Saturday afternoon. Wingate finishes the regular season with a record of 12-4 overall and 6-2 in the SAC. Tusculum is now 10-5 overall and 4-4 in SAC play.
 
"We did a tremendous job today," Wingate head women's lacrosse coach Caline McHenry Olmsted says. "It was a total team effort to play for a full 60 minutes. It was a great senior day for Erin Murphy and Emily Nosek. We are excited for our first round game on Tuesday."
 
The Pioneers jumped out to the early 2-0 lead with 27:31 in the first half, until the 'Dogs followed with a run of three consecutive scores to take their first lead at 3-2 at the 22:37 mark in the first half of play. It was a back-and-forth affair throughout the course of the first half and the Pioneers maintained a 5-4 advantage with 11:35 to go in the first.
 
Wingate responded with three unanswered tallies to take back the lead and make it a 7-5 contest at the 8:00 mark. Tusculum netted three more goals of its own to gain a one-score advantage at 8-7 with only one second remaining in the first half. The near buzzer-beating tally was on an unassisted free-position goal from freshman attack Hayley Bartlett (Peterborough, Ontario). Tusculum maintained the 8-7 advantage going into the halftime break
 
The 'Dogs began the second half with another three consecutive goal streak to take a 10-8 lead at the 25:23 mark. The game-winning tally was netted by senior midfielder Emily Nosek (Bel Air, Md.) to make it 9-8 with 26:36 to go in the second half. Nosek finished her senior campaign with 27 goals. She tallied her 100th career point Saturday afternoon, thanks to her 38th assist in the first half.
 
Tusculum halted the WU consecutive goal streak to cut the lead in half at 10-9 on a score from senior attack Kelsey Crow (Franklin, Tenn.). Wingate soon responded with another run of three unanswered insurance tallies to gain a 13-9 advantage with 14:42 in the second half.
 
The Pioneers trimmed the margin down to a three-goal contest on a tally from sophomore attack Savannah Elliott (Oshawa, Ontario). The 'Dogs netted three consecutive scores to extend their lead to 16-10 at the 7:01 mark. The Pioneers would make it a 16-13 contest on three straight tallies with 1:36 left in the contest, but it would not be enough as the Bulldogs won their fifth game in a row to close out the regular season schedule.
 
Wingate junior midfielder Brittany Andrews (Bel Air, Md.) had three goals in the contest to tie for third on the WU team total list. Andrews also recorded her 100th career point on an assist to O'Neal at the 8:45 mark in the second half to give Wingate a 15-10 lead. Andrews increased her team lead in goals to 58 on the season.
 
WU junior midfielder Paulena Dempsey (Jarrettsville, Md.) finished second in scoring on the afternoon with four tallies in the contest to increase her season total to 55 goals. Tusculum freshman midfielder Rachel Holmes (Norcross, Ga.) led the Pioneer offense with three scores in the game. Three Pioneers tied for second on the team total list with two tallies each.
 
Wingate freshman goalkeeper Arion Pierre (Haymarket, Va.) posted seven saves and picked up the win. She went the distance Saturday. Tusculum sophomore goalie Brooke Wagner (Snellville, Ga.) recorded seven saves and took the loss. She also played the full 60 minutes.
 
The number three seed Wingate University women's lacrosse team will be back in action on Tuesday as they host the quarterfinal round of the South Atlantic Conference tournament against number six seed Catawba. The time of the contest is to be announced Sunday. The number four seed Tusculum College Pioneers will also participate in the first round of the SAC tournament next week. The TC Pioneers host number five seed Brevard Tuesday.
 
(Wingate University sports information/sports network student assistant Jackson Kaplan contributed this article. A freshman from Raleigh, Kaplan is a Communication Studies major at Wingate. He is the son of Harrison and Dona Kaplan.)