Men's Lacrosse | 3/17/2017 5:50:00 PM

Wingate, N.C.----The 19th-ranked Wingate University Bulldogs make the trip up to Harrogate, Tenn. for a critical South Atlantic Conference encounter versus Lincoln Memorial University in the first league road contest of the 2017 campaign Sunday afternoon (please note schedule change). First face-off is slated for a 3 p.m. start. The Bulldogs are nationally ranked for the first time this season after being listed as the number 19 team in this week's United State Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA)/ Nike coaches' poll.
 
Wingate currently sits at 4-2 overall and 1-1 in the SAC. Lincoln Memorial is 4-3 overall and 0-1 in league play. The Bulldogs are coming off a tough 10-9 defeat to 14th-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne, while LMU looks to snap a two-game losing streak. The Railsplitters recently fell to Catawba College in their SAC opener by a close margin of 13-12.
 
"We are always excited to play conference games," Wingate head men's lacrosse coach Tim Boyle says. "LMU is an up-and-coming young program. They have been doing a great job on the field and with recruiting. They have a very good, young coach who is working hard. In addition, their players have bought into their system, along with working hard in this system."
 
The WU Bulldogs are led by senior attack Austin Murphy (Orillia, Ontario), who tops the Bulldog charts with 25 total points (13 goals, 12 assists). Murphy ranks third in the league with his impressive early season assist total. Sophomore attack Alex Llerandi (Marietta, Ga.) is second on the team total list with 11 points (seven goals, four assists).
 
Murphy has posted a trio of three-goal performances this season versus Young Harris (Feb. 9), Florida Southern (Feb. 24) and Mars Hill (March 4). He tallied four total assists in the WU victories over Florida Tech (Feb. 19) and number 12 Lynn (March 7).
 
Bulldog junior attack Jeremy Sullivan (Crofton, Md.) ranks second on the team with eight goals. Sophomore midfielders Conor Gronbach (Cary, N.C.) and Daniel Godwin (Greensboro, N.C.) contribute seven goals each.
 
Wingate junior goalkeeper Will Sheridan (Woodstock, Ga.) continues his dominant start in the cage, leading the SAC with a 66.7 save percentage and ranking second in the league with 90 total saves. Sheridan has posted double-digit saves in six of six games for the Bulldogs, including a career-high 22 save performance versus Florida Southern and 20 saves against Lenoir-Rhyne.
 
For Lincoln Memorial, the Railsplitters are led by junior midfielder Adam Golia (Victoria, British Columbia), who is first on the team with 30 total points (22 goals, eight assists). Sophomore attack Kyle Arcuri (Patchogue, N.Y.) sits right behind him with 27 points (15 goals, 12 assists).
 
LMU junior midfielder Billy Kopsky (Smithtown, N.Y.) also has tallied double-digit scores with 10 goals on the season, while sophomore attack Nick Borriello (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) and freshman attack Chad Walters (Marietta, Ga.) have added seven tallies each.
 
Railsplitter senior goalkeeper Joe Medel (Virginia Beach, Va.) has started all seven games in the cage for LMU, tallying 65 total saves with a season-high 19 stops against Florida Southern (March 8).
 
Last Saturday, the Wingate Bulldogs dropped a hard-fought 10-9 decision to 14th-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne in a huge league match-up. The 'Dogs trailed 7-3 at the half, but outscored the LRU Bears 6-3 in the second half to fall one goal short of completing the comeback. Sullivan led the WU scoring efforts with three goals, while six other student-athletes posted one goal each.
 
Lincoln Memorial fell 20-6 to Florida Tech in its season opener, but then rallied with four straight victories to begin the 2017 campaign at 4-1 overall. LMU has dropped its previous two contests to Florida Southern (9-7) and Catawba (13-12).
 
In the Catawba match-up, the Railsplitters fell in a wire-to-wire contest. LMU led 12-8 with 11:28 left in the fourth quarter, but the Catawba Indians tallied five consecutive goals to rally for an epic comeback triumph. Golia led all scorers with five tallies, while Arcuri added four goals and one assist.
 
"We are hoping we can continue to get better each day," Boyle says. "We are also hoping that we are ready and prepared to compete for each and every play on Sunday."

WINGATE UNIVERSITY
 
Wingate University, consistently ranked as a top 10 "best value" in the South by U.S. News & World Report, serves more than 3,200 students on three campuses in Wingate, Charlotte and Hendersonville, N.C. Founded in 1896, the University offers 35 undergraduate majors, 35 minors, 12 career concentrations, nine pre-professional programs, master's degrees in accounting, business, education, physician assistant studies and sport management and doctorates in education, pharmacy and physical therapy.
 
With a 14 to 1 student/teacher ratio, Wingate students gain the tools and support needed to excel in academics and apply that learning toward an extraordinary career and life. To view current news, video and story ideas, visit www.youtube.com/wingateuniversity. 
 
In addition to a robust intramural athletics program, Wingate student athletes compete in 22 NCAA Division II sports. The University has won the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award for the past 10 years. For more information, go to www.wingate.edu.
               
Wingate is first among NCAA Division II Academic All-America®-producing colleges in the 2000's with 88 selections. Among North Carolina's colleges and universities, Wingate is number one in this millennium with 88 Academic All-America® honorees. Wingate is tops among all SAC schools with 97 lifetime Academic All-America® picks. For more information on WU athletics, go to www.wingatebulldogs.com.
 
(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.)