Men's Lacrosse | 3/31/2017 10:39:00 AM

Wingate, N.C.----The 15th-ranked Wingate University Bulldogs look to rebound from a tough 9-8 loss to Queens University of Charlotte Wednesday night when they travel to Salisbury for a South Atlantic Conference rivalry encounter versus Catawba College Saturday afternoon. First face-off is slated for a 7 p.m. start under the lights at Kirkland Field. The Bulldogs saw their three-game win streak come to an end Wednesday, while Catawba is coming off an 11-10 victory over Coker.
 
Wingate is 7-3 overall and 3-2 in the SAC, while Catawba is 6-5 overall with an identical record in league play. The Bulldogs defeated Catawba in a thrilling 10-9 comeback overtime triumph from Graham Gill Field in 2016, scoring two goals in the final 1:23 of regulation to tie the contest and eventually score the game-winning goal in the overtime period.
 
"We are right in the middle of a tough stretch and this Saturday's game will be just as tough," Wingate head men's lacrosse coach Tim Boyle says. "Conference games always take on a more intense atmosphere. We will need to play at our best to be successful. Anything less than our best effort should not be acceptable to anyone."
 
The Bulldogs are led by senior attack Austin Murphy (Orillia, Ontario) who leads the team and is third in the SAC with 42 total points (19 goals, 23 assists). With two more goals this season, Murphy will become only the second student-athlete in Wingate men's lacrosse history to compile 100 goals and 100 assists in his career. Murphy has 98 goals and 102 assists entering the Catawba encounter.
 
Bulldog sophomore attack Alex Llerandi (Marietta, Ga.) is second on the WU charts with 18 goals and five assists. Sophomore midfielder Daniel Godwin (Greensboro, N.C.) had a huge two-goal performance versus Queens to increase his season total to 14 tallies. Junior attack Jeremy Sullivan (Crofton, Md.) and sophomore midfielder Conor Gronbach (Cary, N.C.) round out the double-digit scorers for Wingate with 13 and 11 tallies, respectively.
 
The contest will feature a huge goalkeeper match-up between Wingate junior Will Sheridan (Woodstock, Ga.) and Catawba senior Ryan Applegate (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) both lead the SAC in total saves. Applegate is first with 141 total stops. Sheridan is second with 124 saves. Sheridan leads the league and the nation with his 64.6 save percentage. He also is first in the SAC and sixth overall in NCAA Division II men's lacrosse with his 7.33 goals-against average.
 
For Catawba, sophomore attack Cole Fanzo (Crofton, Md.) ranks third in the conference with 28 goals on the season. He has dished out five assists for 33 total points. Junior midfielder Dalton Cook (St. Augustine, Fla.) is second on the Indian scoring list with 20 tallies, while junior attack Liam Lynch (Marietta, Ga.) is the third double-digit scorer with 17 total scores. Sophomore midfielder Joe Barber (Upper Marlboro, Md.) contributes nine goals and junior midfielder Chase Scott (Charlotte, N.C.) leads Catawba with 11 assists.
 
The Bulldogs began the season 2-0 before falling to the Florida Southern. After losing to the FSC Mocs, Wingate was victorious in five out of its next six contests. Entering the Queens match-up Wednesday night, the 'Dogs defeated Lincoln Memorial, (then) fifth-ranked Belmont Abbey and Coker, averaging 13.33 goals per contest during the stretch. Wingate now looks to rebound after falling short of its fourth consecutive triumph versus SAC rival Queens.
 
Catawba ranks fourth overall in the SAC with 114 goals as a team, while Wingate is slightly behind the Indians in fifth place with 106 team tallies. The Bulldogs are fifth in the league with 10.60 goals per game. Catawba is first in the league with 145 team saves with Wingate compiling 130 total stops as a team.
 
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.)