Wingate, N.C.----Wingate University senior attack Marc Cottage poured in a career-high seven goals Saturday afternoon, adding an assist to lead the eighth-ranked Bulldogs to a 20-8 victory over Tusculum University in South Atlantic Conference men's lacrosse action at Irwin Belk Stadium. Wingate improves to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the SAC, while the Pioneers fall to 3-1 overall and 0-1 in league play.

KEY STATS

- Wingate out-shot Tusculum 53-31
- The 'Dogs 36 shots on goal compared to 14 from the Pioneers
- The Bulldogs won 22 of the 32 face-offs on the day
- Wingate held a 60-46 advantage in ground balls
- Tusculum committed 26 of the 46 turnovers on the day
- The 'Dogs were 17-for-20 on clear attempts; the Pioneers went 16-for-28
- Tusculum converted on four-of-eight extra-man opportunities

KEY BULLDOGS

- Cottage led the way with his seven goals and one assist, adding two ground balls
- Willie Grieco had three goals, three assists, two caused turnovers and a ground ball
- Danny Riley piled up six assists and six ground balls, causing a pair of turnovers
- Joey Moran netted three goals; Aidan McMahon added two goals and an assist
- Jaxon Grant and Zach Samson each registered a goal and an assist, combining for eight ground balls
- Kyle Spence had two assists, with Daman Lingasin, Ethan Schmidt and Braylon Baker scoring a goal apiece
- Ben Robertson, CJ Dorr and Caden Castle each notched an assist on the afternoon
- Peyton Farley piled up five ground balls to go along with a pair of caused turnovers
- Joe Karnich added five ground balls and a CT
- Dylan Rupprecht won 12-of-16 face-offs, picking up eight ground balls
- Donovan Jones won 10-of-14 face-offs, collecting four ground balls
- Johnny Caponi registered five saves; Ashton Loe added a save in the final frame

FIRST PERIOD

- Wingate scored the first five goals of the day
- Riley assisted on the first four, with three of the goals coming from Cottage
- Grieco and Moran also contributed to the early spurt, with Cottage assisting on the final goal of the flurry
- Will Cookman got Tusculum on the board with 3:29 left in the period
- Samson scored off another Riley assist with 56 seconds left to make it 6-1

SECOND PERIOD

- Wesley Phillips pulled Tusculum back within four at the 12:01 mark
- Goals from Baker, McMahon and Cottage put WU on top 9-3 with 6:45 to go
- Tristan Kirkham scored at the 1:20 mark to cut the lead to five
- Moran scored off a Spence assist with 25 seconds left to push the lead back to six
- Jordan Daniel scored with seven seconds left to pull TU within five at 10-5

THIRD PERIOD

- Cottage scored off a Grieco assist 18 seconds into the half to extend the lead to six
- Goals from Cookman and Kirkham cut the lead to four with 11:43 to go
- The 'Dogs scored the final four goals of the frame
- Grieco started the spurt at the 11:06 mark
- Two Cottage goals and a Grieco goal in a 90-second span made it 15-7 with 2:01 left

FOURTH PERIOD

- Wingate's run continued in the fourth with four more goals in a row
- Grant's goal came off a McMahon assist 24 seconds in
- McMahon then scored off Grant's assist to make it 17-7
- Lingasin scored off Dorr's assist with 11 minutes remaining to push the lead to 11
- Moran scored off Grieco's assist at the 10:36 mark to make it 19-7
- Schmidt scored off Robertson's assist with 1:20 remaining for WU's 20th goal of the day
- Cookman scored with 44 seconds left, breaking a 27-minute scoreless stretch for the Pioneers

UP NEXT

- Wingate is back in action Saturday for a showdown with #12 Limestone in the Crown Classic
- The contest will take place at 4:30 p.m. at American Legion Stadium in Charlotte