Wingate, N.C.----A Wingate University freshman Leah Knowles piled up a career-high seven goals Sunday afternoon, leading the Bulldogs to an 18-12 victory over the Lincoln Memorial University Railsplitters in South Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse action at Graham Gill Field. The Bulldogs move to 2-5 on the season and 1-0 in league play, while the Railsplitters fall to 2-3 overall and 0-1 in the SAC.
 
THOUGHTS FROM ABBY WILEY
 
"LMU came out really hard against us and they executed a good game plan. Our girls were fortunate, towards the end we were able to rally a little bit and get a couple goals in the back of the net. Leah Knowles having seven goals, Kendall Wells having four goals, that was huge for us. It was a well-rounded offensive group today. And lots of assists today, Annie Plotts had four assists, that's huge."

KEY STATS

- Lincoln Memorial out-shot Wingate 30-29
- The Bulldogs registered 25 shots on goal; the Railsplitters had 22
- WU won 17 draw controls, LMU had 16
- Lincoln Memorial went five-for-11 on free position shots, while Wingate was three-for-eight
- The 'Dogs collected 19 ground balls, the Railsplitters had 13

KEY BULLDOGS

- Knowles registered seven goals on seven shots, adding three draw controls
- Kendall Wells added four goals and two assists
- Camryn Gallagher notched two goals, one assist and four draw controls
- Casey Roux registered two goals, an assist and four draw controls
- Annie Plotts had one goal and four assists
- Megan Biase collected 10 saves and a team-high eight ground balls

NOTES

- Wingate improves to 5-0 all time against Lincoln Memorial
- WU moves to 3-0 when facing the Railsplitters at Graham Gill Field
- Wells leads the team with 25 goals on the season, ranking second in the conference
- Plotts had a career-high four assists, leading the team with 11 assists on the season
- Biase has registered 10+ saves in six straight games
- Biase ranks second in the conference collecting 32 ground balls
 
FIRST HALF

- The Bulldogs started the game with a 4-0 run
- Knowles netted the first two for Wingate
- She was assisted by Plotts and Kayliegh Hiles at the 28:20 and 25:38 marks respectively
- WU got a Gallagher goal with 23:21 to go
- A Wells goal would cap the rally just 30 seconds later, giving the 'Dogs the 4-0 lead
- At the 22-minute mark LMU got on the board with a Kennedy Beuchner goal
- Three minutes later Wells found the crashing Ruiz to make it 5-1
- Beuchner added her second of the game to cut the lead to three with 17:18 to go
- With 12:23 Paige Kamer found the back of the net for Wingate
- The Railsplitters would net the next two goals, making it 6-4 with just under 10 minutes remaining
- Wingate ended the half on a 3-0 run, with all three goals coming from Knowles
- Plotts and Wells each handed out an assist in the run giving the Bulldogs a 9-4 halftime lead

SECOND HALF

- LMU opened the second half with a quick goal from Rachel Gardner
- At the 28:11 mark Wells netted the player-up goal to make it 10-5
- The Railsplitters answered 30 seconds later with an Erin DePaul goal
- With 25 minutes to go Lincoln Memorial netted another to cut the lead to three
- The Bulldogs got Wells' third goal of the game with 23:21 on the clock
- DePaul netted her second of the day for LMU to make it 11-8 with 19:32 remaining
- Wingate got a Plotts goal with 18:40 left to play
- Gallagher and Knowles followed with goals to push the Bulldog lead to six
- The Railsplitters netted the next three, with Gardner finding the back of the net twice
- Roux found Wells with six minutes to go to make it 15-11
- Lincoln Memorial got a DePaul goal with 4:34 to go, making it a three-goal game
- Wingate finished the game with three straight goals
- Roux netted two in the flurry
- Knowles scored her seventh goal off a Bella Pellet assist with 33 seconds left

UP NEXT

- The Bulldogs face Lewis on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
- Wingate travels to Hartsville to take on Coker March 18
- Wingate will host Lenoir-Rhyne March 21