Men's Lacrosse | 5/12/2017 2:27:00 PM

Gaffney, S.C.----The ninth-ranked Wingate University men's lacrosse team ventures south to Limestone College to face the top-ranked Saints in the NCAA quarter-final round Saturday afternoon for a 12 noon start. The 2017 South Atlantic Conference tournament champions will play in their first NCAA play-off game since 2001 when Wingate fell to Limestone in the national semi-final round.
 
The Bulldogs are coming off a historic 2017 campaign, finishing 13-3 overall after beating Queens University of Charlotte on April 29 for the first SAC tournament crown in program history. Limestone finished 18-1 overall while earning its 10th Conference Carolinas tournament championship in 11 seasons with a victory over Belmont Abbey April 30.
 
"Both the players and coaching staff are honored and excited for the upcoming NCAA tournament game," Wingate head men's lacrosse coach Tim Boyle says. "We all know that we will be playing against a very formidable opponent in Limestone. They are a very talented, hard-working and well-coached program which has a strong tradition of winning in the NCAA tournament."
 
"Our goal is to continue to work hard," Boyle says. "We want to make everyone associated with the program and University proud. We will stay true to who we are and compete on every single play."
 
Wingate Players to Watch
 
Wingate is led by 11 All-SAC selections with senior attack and first team pick Austin Murphy (Orillia, Ontario) leading the charge. Murphy led the team and conference with 68 total points (26 goals, 42 assists), while also finishing first in the SAC with his assist total. Wingate's all-time leading scorer is third in the nation with his 2.63 assists per contest.
 
WU sophomore attack and second team All-SAC choice Alex Llerandi (Marietta, Ga.) led the 'Dogs with 31 total goals in his break-out campaign. Junior attack Jeremy Sullivan (Crofton, Md.) and redshirt senior attack Ryan Vogrig (Vancouver, B.C.) contributed 26 and 19 tallies, respectively. Both student-athletes also earned All-SAC honorable mention laurels at the conclusion of the 2017 campaign.
 
Bulldog sophomore midfielder and second team All-SAC pick Daniel Godwin (Greensboro, N.C.) added 17 tallies and five assists on the season. Sophomore midfielder Conor Gronbach (Cary, N.C.) tallied 14 goals, while senior attack Tanner Kotch (Butler, Pa.) and sophomore attack Ryan Ormerod (Lake Mary, Fla.) added 11 scores each.
 
Bulldog junior goalkeeper Will Sheridan (Woodstock, Ga.) posted a stand-out season in the cage during his first campaign as the team's starting goalie. Sheridan earned first team All-SAC laurels, ranking at the top of the league and nation in multiple statistical categories.
 
Sheridan was first in the SAC and fourth in the country with a 60.3 save percentage, first and fifth in goals-against average (7.32), third in the conference in total saves (167) and fourth in the SAC with 110 goals allowed. He earned SAC tournament MVP laurels after tallying 18 total saves in the two SAC post-season victories over Tusculum and Queens.
 
"With finals in full-swing, the boys are working super hard both in the classroom and on the field," Boyle says. "I am sure our practices and the upcoming game are welcoming distractions from the rigorous exam schedule which they are dealing with right now."
 
Limestone Players to Watch
 
The Limestone Saints are led by junior attack Charlie Sheehan (St. Catharines, Ontario) who tops the LC scoring charts with 71 total points (55 goals, 16 assists). Sheehan is 13th in NCAA Division II lacrosse with 2.89 goals per game.
 
Saints junior midfielder Ryan Maciejewski (Penn Yan, N.Y.) is second on the team with 55 points (28 goals, 27 assists), while redshirt junior attack Brendan P. Smith (West Islip, N.Y.) is third with 54 points (41 goals, 13 assists). Junior midfielder Ben Higgins (Hampstead, Md.) is third in total goals with 30 tallies on the season. Four other Saints have totaled 22-plus goals in 2017.
 
LC junior goalkeeper Cole Aikens (Novato, Calif.) has started 14 of 17 games in the cage, posting a 13-1 record with 103 total saves and a 51.2 save percentage. Aikens has posted an 8.42 goals-against average, while allowing 98 total tallies on the season.
 
Team Notes
 
Since falling to (then) 18th-ranked Queens University of Charlotte on March 29, the 10th-ranked Bulldogs finished the regular season/SAC tournament slate on a six-game win streak. The 'Dogs earned four victories over top 20 opponents in the regular season including triumphs over 12th-ranked Lynn (March 7), fifth-ranked Belmont Abbey (March 22), fourth-ranked Mercyhurst (April 9) and 19th-ranked Tusculum in the regular season finale (April 22). Wingate's victory over Belmont Abbey gave the Bulldogs their first win over a top five opponent in nine seasons. The 'Dogs defeated number three Mercyhurst in 2008.
 
Wingate earned its first 2017 national ranking in the USILA/Nike Division II top 20 poll on March 13 as the number 19 squad and have remained in the national poll ever since. The Bulldogs first cracked the top 15 on March 27 and held a spot there for the remainder of the 2017 campaign.
 
Limestone pursued an undefeated regular season at 15-0 overall entering the 2017 finale before falling to third-ranked Merrimack by a score of 18-13. The Saints earned nine wins over top 20 opponents with four of them versus top 10 squads (number nine Seton Hill, number seven Tampa, number four Lindenwood and number nine Belmont Abbey).
 
The Saints men's lacrosse program has tallied four total NCAA Division II national championships. Limestone goes for its third title in four seasons in this year's tournament after winning back-to-back crowns in 2014 and 2015.
 
NCAA tournament notes
 
The Bulldogs and Saints are two of eight squads invited to the NCAA Division II national tournament. Limestone is the number one seed in the South Region while Wingate is the four seed. The match-up features the number one scoring offense in the nation (Limestone) against the fifth-ranked scoring defense in Division II (Wingate). Two-seed Lenoir-Rhyne University will face third-seed University of Tampa at 2 p.m. Saturday in the final south regional contest of the day.
 
In the North Region, top-seed Adelphi University faces fourth seed Pace University Saturday night at 7 p.m., while defending national champion and two-seed Le Moyne College plays number three seed Merrimack at 12 noon Saturday.
 
Wingate head coach Tim Boyle led Dowling (N.Y.) College to the 2012 national championship. Dowling defeated Limestone 11-10 on May 27, 2012 in Foxborough, Mass. Interestingly enough, Gillette Stadium in Foxborough is the site of the 2017 national championship game on Sunday, May 28.
 
Crisera is honored by CoSIDA

Wingate senior men's lacrosse defender Anthony Crisera (Silver Springs, Fla.) has been named to the 2017 Academic All-District™ III men's at-large team, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Crisera is recognized for the first time in his career. He is the only men's lacrosse student-athlete on the 10-member Academic All-District™ III men's at-large team.
 
In 2017, Crisera was named first team All-SAC after collecting All-SAC second team laurels in 2016. Crisera started every game for the number nine Bulldogs (13-3 overall), picking up 20 ground balls and forcing 10 turnovers so far this season. Wingate won its first ever SAC title this spring. In the classroom, Crisera has a 3.80 GPA with his accounting major.
 
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 11 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.)