Wingate, N.C.----A record-breaking outing from senior attack Kendall Wells led the Wingate University Bulldogs to a 19-8 season-opening victory Tuesday afternoon over the North Greenville University Crusaders in NCAA Division II women's lacrosse action at Graham Gill Field. The Bulldogs start the season 1-0, while the Crusaders fall to 0-2.
 
THOUGHTS FROM ABBY WILEY
 
"I have to say at halftime I wasn't thrilled with the execution of the game plan. By second half we did a great job doing what we wanted to do and seeing lots of contributors on the offensive side. Our defense played a standout game today, I'm really proud of them."

KEY STATS

- Wingate out-shot NGU 33-24
- The 'Dogs notched 24 shots on goal; the Crusaders had 15
- North Greenville won 17 draw controls, WU had 10
- Wingate went five-for-seven on free position shots, while NGU was zero-for-four
- The Bulldogs picked up 11 ground balls, the Crusaders collected 4

KEY BULLDOGS

- Wells registered eight goals and two assists for a game-high 10 points
- Bella Pellet netted four goals on the afternoon
- Becca Ruiz collected one goal, two assists, two draw controls, one ground ball and one caused turnover
- Annie Plotts notched one goal and two assists
- Five other Bulldogs found the back of the net
- Camryn Gallagher registered two assists
- Casey Roux collected five draw controls and handed out one assist
- Megan Biase collected seven saves

NOTES

- Wingate moves to 3-0 all time against North Greenville
- WU moves to 2-0 when facing the Crusaders at Graham Gill Field
- Wells is now Wingate's all-time leader with 154 career goals
- Wells also broke the record for most points in a career by a Bulldog with 186
- She is only the second player in program history to score over 150 goals
- Wells ties a career high with 10 points in a game; second-most goals in her career
- Pellet registers a career-high four goals
- Biase registers her first collegiate win in cage for WU
- Plotts collected three points and her first goal in her first outing for the 'Dogs
- Abby Burke, Kayleigh Hiles and Leah Knowles netted their first career goals

FIRST HALF

- Ruiz got the offense going for WU, collecting the first goal of her sophomore campaign at the 27:14 mark
- Hiles and Wells made the lead 3-0 with goals at the 25:09 and 22:32 mark respectively
- NGU got on the board with 21:13 remaining in the half
- Wingate got a goal from Pellet with 19:17 to go, Paige Kamer found the back of the net a minute later to make it 5-1
- After a 10-minute scoring drought, the Crusaders struck with a goal from Jillian Chiase
- With five minutes to go Wells scored again for the 'Dogs
- The Crusaders made it 6-3 when Rachel Kellogg scored a short-handed goal
- Wingate ended the frame on a 3-0 run
- Pellet scored the first goal, while two more Wells goals put WU on top 9-3 at halftime

SECOND HALF

- NGU netted the first goal of the half at the 27:04 mark
- The Bulldogs answered with a 4-0 run spanning eightminutes of action
- The rally started when Knowles found the back of the net for her first collegiate goal
- Ashley Stewart was the next to score for WU, while Pellet and Wells capped the flurry
-The Crusaders found the back of the net with just over 15 minutes remaining to make it 13-5
- One minute later Wells struck again on the free position shot
- North Grenville netted two quick goals cutting Wingate's lead to seven with 13:30 to go
- Plotts scored her first career goal at the 10:58 mark, giving WU the 16-7 lead
- With 10:17 remaining Wells put the 'Dogs on top by 10
- Wingate's scoring was capped by a free position goal from Burke with 3:20 left to play
- North Greenville got the final goal of the afternoon from Olivia Foltz making it 19-8

UP NEXT

- Wingate starts the season on a three-game home stand
- The Bulldogs host Belmont Abbey Saturday at 1 p.m.
- The 'Dogs round out the home stand Feb. 22, hosting Mount Olive