Mount Olive, N.C.----Wingate University midfielder Paulena Dempsey (Jarrettsville, Md.) tallied a game-high five goals to lead the Bulldogs to a 10-8 season-opening triumph over the University of Mount Olive Trojans in NCAA Division II women's lacrosse action from the Ray McDonald Lacrosse Complex Tuesday evening. All five of Dempsey's goal came before the 8:10 mark of the first half.
 
Wingate improves to 1-0 in their 2017 opener, snapping Mount Olive's four-game win streak to begin the season. The Trojans are now 4-1 overall. The WU Bulldogs held UMO to single-digit goals for the first time in the young season. Mount Olive averaged 18.25 goals per game entering today's non-conference encounter.
 
"I am proud of our overall team effort today," Wingate head women's lacrosse coach Caline McHenry Olmsted says. "Our offense came out strong in the first half and our defense was solid the whole game. We need to use this momentum going into our game Sunday."
 
The Bulldogs began the contest with four unanswered tallies to grab the early 4-0 advantage with 16:17 left in the first half. Three out of the first four goals were scored by Dempsey with the other from fellow senior attack Brittany Andrews (Bel Air, Md.).
 
Mount Olive ended the run with a score from junior attack Micheala Ciciarelli (Syracuse, N.Y.) to make it a 4-1 game with 13:15 to go in the opening frame. Two more Dempsey goals would make it a 6-2 Wingate lead at the 8:51 mark, but an unanswered tally from Trojan sophomore defender Hailey Dobbins (Syracuse, N.Y.) cut the deficit in half at 6-3 with 7:09 to go. Neither team would score for the remainder of the half as Wingate maintained the 6-3 advantage at the halftime intermission.
 
WU freshman attack Kendall Wells (Elkridge, Md.) tallied her first career goal to give the Bulldogs a 7-3 lead to begin the second half (23:54) on the first career assist from freshman midfielder Casey Roux (Rochester, N.Y.). Mount Olive answered with back-to-back scores from Ciciarelli to make it 7-5 Bulldogs with 21:40 on the second half clock.
 
The 'Dogs responded with three consecutive insurance tallies to extend the WU advantage out to 10-5 with 12:09 to go. Roux netted her first career goal, while redshirt junior attack Shannon O'Neal (Severna Park, Md.) found the back of the net for the first score of her second-year in the Navy Blue and Vegas Gold.
 
Mount Olive attempted a late comeback with three more unanswered scores to trim the margin down to a 10-8 contest with 3:37 remaining in regulation. The WU defense held strong and maintained the two-goal victory over the previously undefeated Trojans.
 
Andrews finished second on the Bulldog scoring charts with two goals. O'Neal, Wells, and Roux finished with one tally each for the visiting Bulldogs. Cicarelli led the UMO Trojans with four scores on 10 shots, while four other Mount Olive student-athletes finished with one goal each.
 
Wingate sophomore goalkeeper Arion Pierre (Haymarket, Va.) posted 10 saves and got the win for a 1-0 start on the season. She went the distance Tuesday. Mount Olive sophomore goalie Samantha Thompson (Coquitlam, Canada) and freshman goalkeeper Siena Miller (Vail, Colo.) each spent 30 minutes in the cage. Thompson tallied five saves and Miller finished with three.
 
The Wingate University women's lacrosse team is back in action this Sunday for a non-conference showdown versus Rollins College for the Bulldogs' 2017 season opener from Graham Gill Field at the Irwin Belk Track Complex. First draw control is slated for a 1 p.m. start with the contest airing live on ESPN3.
 
(Wingate University athletic media relations/sports network student assistant Jackson Kaplan contributed this article. A sophomore from Raleigh, Kaplan is a Communication Studies major at Wingate.)