Harrogate, Tenn.----Wingate University All-American Leah Knowles piled up six goals and an assist Saturday afternoon, leading the 12th-ranked Bulldogs to a 20-9 victory at Lincoln Memorial University in South Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse action. Wingate improves to 7-2 overall and 3-0 in the SAC, while the Railsplitters fall to 4-6 overall and 0-3 in league play.

KEY STATS

- Wingate out-shot LMU 37-25
- The 'Dogs had 32 shots on goal compared to 18 from the Railsplitters
- The Bulldogs won 17 of the 30 draw controls
- WU went 13-for-13 on clear attempts; Lincoln Memorial was 14-for-16
- LMU held a 13-11 advantage in ground balls

KEY BULLDOGS

- Knowles added six draw controls, two caused turnovers and a ground ball to her seven-point effort
- Becca Ruiz had four goals, three draw controls and three CTs
- Bella Pellet contributed three goals and a pair of draw controls
- Paige Kamer and Kaleigh Wilgeroth each had two goals and an assist
- Claire Fuchs added a goal, two assists, two draw controls and a caused turnover
- Emily Blakely had two goals, to CTs, a draw control and a ground ball
- Nelida Watson and Danielle Scarfogliero each handed out a pair of assists
- Julia Garvin and Madi Caldwell notched an assist apiece
- Krysta Churns registered a ground ball and a caused turnover
- Megan Biase collected nine saves on the day

FIRST QUARTER

- A Sophia Gardea goal gave LMU a 2-0 lead two minutes in
- Wingate scored the next four to take a 4-2 advantage at the 8:11 mark
- Knowles had two goals in the flurry; Ruiz and Blakely also scored with Watson notching two assists
- Ryann Doyle's goal pulled the Railsplitters within one with six minutes left
- Kamer scored four minutes later to push the lead to two
- Knowles scored twice in the final 30 seconds off assists from Scarfogliero and Fuchs to make it 7-3

SECOND QUARTER

- Kamer scored off a Knowles assist a minute into the frame to push the lead to five
- Jamie Small cut the deficit to four with seven minutes left
- Wingate scored the final three goals of the half, starting with a Pellet goal at the 6:49 mark
- Fuchs scored off a Caldwell assist with 3:56 to go to push the lead to six
- Pellet struck again 15 seconds later to make it 11-4

THIRD QUARTER

- LMU opened the second-half scoring to pull within six, but Wingate scored the next four
- Ruiz started the spurt off a Fuchs assist, while goals from Pellet and Wilgeroth made it 14-5
- A Knowles goal with seven minutes left pushed the lead to 10
- Breanna Booth cut the lead back to nine with two minutes left, but Wilgeroth answered 24 seconds later
- Camdyn Bullard made it 16-7 heading to the fourth with a goal in the final 30 seconds

FOURTH QUARTER

- Gardea pulled the Railsplitters within eight with a goal at the 13:16 mark
- Ruiz and Knowles answered with goals to make it 18-8 with 9:41 remaining
- Jaedyn Ryba's goal with 7:09 to go cut the lead back to nine
- Ruiz scored off Garvin's assist two minutes later to push the lead back to double figures
- Blakely scored Wingate's 20th goal of the day off Wilgeroth's assist with 4:49 to go

UP NEXT

- Wingate is back in action Wednesday, hosting Newberry at 4 p.m.