Wingate, N.C.---- The 13th-ranked Wingate University Bulldogs scored six unanswered goals in a 21-minute stretch Friday afternoon en route to a 16-8 victory over Lenoir-Rhyne University in the semifinal of the 2019 South Atlantic Conference men's lacrosse tournament at Graham Gill Field. The two-time defending SAC tournament champion Bulldogs are 12-3 overall, while the Bears fall to 6-8 on the season.

THOUGHTS FROM TIM BOYLE

"Today was a solid full team win. The boys played hard in all facets. We are excited for the win but it is a very short turn around to Sunday and we need to be ready for either team as they are both very strong well coached teams."
  
KEY STATS
 
- Wingate out-shot Lenoir-Rhyne 37-24
- The 'Dogs held a 27-15 advantage in shots on goal
- The Bulldogs had a slight edge with 32 ground balls, compared to 26 for the Bears
- WU won 24 face-offs, LR won only two
- The Bears went one-for-two in man-up opportunities; while Wingate was two-for-four
 
KEY BULLDOGS
 
- Dominic Piazza had a game-high four goals and seven points, adding three assists
- Ryan Ormerod piled up three goals on five shots
- Conor Gronbach collected three goals and four groundballs
- Bobby Padden netted two goals, handing out a game-high four assists
- Joe Cooper and Alex Llerandi each had two goals and one assist
- Wyatt Weiseman won 19-of-21 face-offs
- James Kotcamp was a perfect five-of-five in face-offs
- Alex Cordero collected seven saves for the 'Dogs
 
NOTES
 
- Wingate improves to 5-6 all time against Lenoir-Rhyne
- Third straight win over the Bears; rematch of last year's SAC championship game
- The 'Dogs are on a six-game win streak
- WU advances to the championship for the third year in a row
- The 24-for-26 faceoff wins is the highest win percentage for the Bulldogs this season
- Fifth hat trick of the season for Piazza

FIRST PERIOD
 
- Wingate raced out to an early 2-0 lead, Llerandi netted the first goal of the game at the 12:37 mark
- 30 seconds later Gronbach scored to give the 'Dogs the two-goal lead
- Lenoir-Rhyne scored with 10:29 to go when Edward Tate found the back of the net
- Cooper's goal at the 5:10 mark made it 4-1
- Eric Dickson and Anthony Fraga found the back of the net to get the Bears within one
- Piazza netted the final goal of the frame for the Bulldogs to make it 5-3
 
SECOND PERIOD
 
- LR scored 20 seconds into the frame to get back within one
- Piazza answered with a goal a minute later to give WU a 6-4 advantage
- Chris Britton scored for the Bears at the 9:30 mark to make it a one-goal game
- Weiseman won the ensuing faceoff and assisted on a Piazza goal just six seconds later
- After seven scoreless minutes, Padden scored to give Wingate an 8-5 halftime lead
 
THIRD PERIOD
 
- The 'Dogs would start the second half with four straight goals
- Ormerod collected the first two at the 14:52 and 13:02 marks respectively
- Wingate would get another Llerandi goal with 4:42 to play
- Just over a minute later, Padden would find the back of the net, giving the Bulldogs the 12-5 advantage
- The Bears scored their first goal in over 21 minutes when Dickson scored at the 2:06 mark
- Fraga found the back of the net just 20 seconds late, making it a five-goal game
- Gronbach scored the final goal of the frame with 49 seconds to go

FOURTH PERIOD
 
- Cooper scored in the first 30 seconds to make it 14-7
- Piazza netted his fourth goal of the afternoon with 10:18 remaining
- The final Wingate goal of the day came from Ormerod at the 4:05 mark, making it 16-7
 
UP NEXT
 
- Wingate advances to the Championship Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m.
- The Bulldogs will face the Queens Royals at Graham Gill Field
- The 'Dogs won 11-9 at Queens last Saturday to claim the regular season SAC title