Hardeeville, S.C.----SCAD Savannah freshman attack/midfielder Sydney Knego (Sterling, Va.) led all scorers with six goals to boost the NAIA number one Bees to a 21-17 victory over the visiting Wingate Bulldogs in women's lacrosse action from the SCAD Athletics Complex Wednesday evening. The Bees average 18.1 goals per game and tallied their fifth 20-plus goal performance of the 2017 campaign in the contest.
 
Wingate is now 10-3 overall, while SCAD Savannah improves to 9-1 overall. The Bees extend their current win streak to five games. The Wingate Bulldogs return home for the final regular season home contest of 2017 this Saturday when they host Brevard College for a Senior Day showdown at 12 noon. The Bees host North Greenville on the same day for a 2 p.m. start.
 
WU senior attack Brittany Andrews (Bel Air, Md.) and redshirt junior attack Shannon O'Neal (Severna Park, Md.) led the Bulldog scoring efforts with five tallies and one assist each. Andrews increased her 2017 season goal total to 51, while O'Neal now has 34 goals. Bulldog senior midfielder Paulena Dempsey (Jarrettsville, Md.) finished with two goals and two assists, while freshman midfielder Casey Roux (Rochester, N.Y.) added two scores and one assist.
 
For SCAD Savannah, sophomore attack Drew Dowgiallo (Lothian, Md.) supported Knego's efforts with four total tallies in the contest. Senior attack Joanna Ehatt (Chester, Md.) and junior midfielder Shannon Flaherty (South Burlington, Vt.) added three goals each. Junior attack/midfielder Taylor Vaccaro (Mooresville, N.C.) posted two scores, while senior attack Kirsten Carr (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) contributed one goal and a game-high three assists.
 
The Bees struck first with back-to-back goals from Knego to take an early 2-0 advantage at the 27:02 mark and never looked back. SCAD Savannah increased its lead to 5-1 with 22:13 in the opening half. An unassisted tally from Dempsey made it a 6-4 game five minutes later, but Wingate would not get any closer for the remainder of the first frame. SCAD Savannah responded with four unanswered tallies to extend the margin out to 10-4 with 8:18 remaining. The Bees led 11-5 at the halftime intermission.
 
Trailing 13-7 at the 25:16 mark of the second half, the Bulldogs trimmed the deficit down to a three-goal game with four straight scores to make the score 13-10 with a goal from Roux and consecutive tallies from O'Neal four minutes later. SCAD Savannah responded with three straight insurance goals of its own to increase the lead out to 16-10 at the 15:43 plateau.
 
SCAD Savannah led the remainder of the second half, although Wingate cut the deficit down to two with a free-position goal from freshman attack Joanna King (Lancaster, Pa.) to make the score 19-17 with 1:36 remaining in regulation. Wingate was unable to make a late comeback as the Bees scored back-to-back goals in the last 48 seconds to hold on for the four-goal triumph.
 
Wingate sophomore goalkeeper and reigning four-time South Atlantic Conference Defensive Player of the Week Arion Pierre (Haymarket, Va.) posted 11 saves and took the loss, falling to 10-3. Pierre played for 48:01, while WU junior goalie Nicole Hinkle (Fallston, Md.) played for 11:59 and tallied one save. SCAD sophomore goalie Maggie Lortz (Mason, Ohio) posted nine stops and got the win. Lortz played for 47:07 Wednesday evening.
 
SCAD outshot Wingate 40-32, while leading 18-11 in ground balls. The Bulldogs were victorious 23-17 in total draw controls with the Bees holding the 12-10 edge in clears. Wingate tallied three goals on four free-position shots, while SCAD totaled one tally on six free-position opportunities.
 
(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.)