Wingate, N.C.----Catawba senior goalkeeper Bethany Davis (Salisbury, Md.) posted 18 total saves as the Indians claimed a hard-fought 13-12 victory over Wingate University in the opening round of the South Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse tournament on Graham Gill Field at the Irwin Belk Track Complex Tuesday afternoon. Catawba advances to the semi-final round of the SAC tournament, while the 2016 campaign for Wingate women's lacrosse comes to a conclusion. Wingate finishes the season 12-5 overall. Catawba is now 8-9 overall.
 
The Indians jumped out to the early lead on a score from senior attack Meredith Jones (Barnesville, Md.) to make it a 1-0 contest with 26:24 left in the first half. Wingate answered with back-to-back tallies to take the lead at 2-1 with 22:07 to go in the first. Catawba soon regained the lead with a 3-2 advantage at the 17:39 mark.
 
It was a back-and-forth affair throughout the first half of play and the score was all knotted up at 6-6 with 10:30 to go in the half. Catawba would take a two-score lead at 8-6 with 5:45 remaining in the opening half. The 'Dogs trimmed the margin down to one goal on a tally from freshman midfielder Megan Amrein (Abington, Md.) to make it an 8-7 score at the 1:52 mark. She finished tied for second on the WU team total list with two scores on the afternoon. The Indians would maintain the 8-7 advantage going into the halftime break.
 
Catawba commenced a run of five unanswered tallies to extend its lead out to 13-7 with 12:08 to go in the second half. The 'Dogs stormed right back with five straight scores of their own to cut the Indian lead all the way down to one goal at 13-12 with 3:54 remaining in the contest. Wingate was unable to tie the game up at 13, as their comeback bell just short.
 
WU redshirt sophomore and All-SAC honorable mention attack Shannon O'Neal (Severna Park, Md.) tied for the team in scoring with three goals on the afternoon. She finished her first season in a Wingate uniform with 42 total goals, which is good for third on the WU team list. Senior midfielder and first team All-SAC midfielder Emily Nosek (Bel Air, Md.) also had three tallies on the afternoon and finished her final year with 30 total scores. Junior midfielder and first team All-SAC midfielder Brittany Andrews (Bel Air, Md.) had two goals in the contest and ended her junior campaign with 60 total goals.
 
Catawba sophomore attack Megan Shortt (Kernersville, N.C.) led the Indian offense with four goals. Junior attack Kirstyn Kruse (Sagamore Beach, Mass.) finished second with three tallies on the afternoon.
 
Wingate freshman goalkeeper and second team All-SAC selection Arion Pierre (Haymarket, Va.) posted 10 saves and took the loss. She went the distance Tuesday, allowing 13 goals. Davis picked up the win and also played the full 60 minutes. Davis and the Catawba College Indians will be back in action on Friday night for the semi-finals of the SAC tournament at the Queens Sports Complex.
 
(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.)