Hartsville, S.C.----Wingate University junior midfielder Conor Gronbach (Cary, N.C.) had four goals and two assists to lead the Bulldogs to a thrilling 11-10 South Atlantic Conference men's lacrosse victory over Coker College Wednesday night at Coker Athletic Field. Gronbach's six points led all scorers in the contest.
 
Wingate junior midfielder Wyatt Weiseman (Jensen Beach, Fla.) had a huge night, winning 21-of-24 face-offs and collected 17 ground balls. Bulldog senior attack Jeremy Sullivan (Crofton, Md.) had two goals. For Coker, sophomore midfielder Denton Wilks (Osteen, Fla.) and freshman midfielder Ethan Irizarry (New York, N.Y.) had four and three goals, respectively. Irizarry had one assist as well.
 
GAME INFORMATION
 
Score: Wingate 11, Coker 10
Records: Wingate 7-5 overall (5-1 SAC), Coker 6-6 overall (3-4 SAC)
Location: Coker Athletic Field, Hartsville, S.C.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
 
-WU senior attack Seth Grimwood (Huntingtown, Md.) and junior attack Alex Llerandi (Marietta, Ga.) had identical statistics ledgers of one goal and two assists each.
-The Bulldogs outshot the Cobras 35-24 with a 21-14 advantage in shots on goal.
-Wingate had 27 shots in the second and third quarters combined, while holding Coker to only eight over the same time frame. The Bulldogs outscored the host Cobras 9-5 over the second and third quarters.
-Bulldog graduate student goalie Jacob Ormerod (Lake Mary, Fla.) played 60 minutes, recording four saves. Cobra freshman goalie Chris Hagy (Bel Air, Md.) also went the distance, posting 10 saves.
-Coker scored three extra-man goals (in seven tries), while Wingate scored two EMO goals in five attempts.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
First Quarter
 
Coker outscored Wingate 3-0 in the first frame. Wilks scored at the first-quarter buzzer to make the score 3-0 Cobras.
 
Second Quarter
 
For the second game in a row, the Bulldogs put together a huge second quarter. On Wednesday night, Wingate outscored Coker 6-1 in the frame. Gronbach scored three of his four goals in the second stanza. WU freshman attack Bobby Padden (Cary, N.C.) finished the proceedings with a goal at the 1:45 mark to make the score 6-4 at the halftime intermission.
 
 
Third Quarter
 
The hard-fought third quarter saw Coker outscore Wingate 4-3. Gronbach scored on a Grimwood assist at the 10:11 mark to put the visitors up 8-5. Coker responded with a 3-0 run to tie the game 8-8 on an unassisted goal by senior midfielder Brooks Long with 2:21 to go. Sullivan completed the third quarter scoring at the 1:27 mark to give the 'Dogs a 9-8 advantage.
 
Fourth Quarter
 
After an early Coker goal, Llerandi scored the game-winner with 9:25 to play. Sophomore attack Dominic Piazza (Huntingtown, Md.) added an insurance goal on a Gronbach assist with 7:51 remaining to make the score 11-9 Bulldogs. An Irizarry goal with 1:42 left to play rounded out the scoring.  
 
TURNING POINT
 
Weiseman's 21 face-off wins and 17 ground balls were huge. After a 6-0 second quarter at Newberry Saturday night, Wingate's 6-1 second stanza Wednesday evening was a big difference.
 
NOTABLES
 
-Wingate wins its third game in a row and tastes victory for the fifth time in the last six games.
-The Bulldogs are 3-2 overall in one-goal games this season.
 
QUOTABLES
 
Wingate head coach Tim Boyle: "The strong game from Wyatt really helped us to withstand a great effort by a tough Coker team. We struggled at times tonight and need to fix our issues to be prepared for another tough road conference game at Tusculum Saturday."

NEXT ON THE HORIZON

Wingate completes its three-game road swing at Tusculum for a 3 p.m. SAC encounter Saturday. Coker hosts non-conference foe Lees-McRae Saturday at 7 p.m.