Matthews, N.C.----The fifth-seeded and 13th-ranked Limestone University Saints knocked off top-seeded and second-ranked Wingate University 22-15 Saturday afternoon in the semifinals of the South Atlantic Conference men's lacrosse tournament. Limestone improves to 13-4 overall, advancing to Monday's SAC title game, while the Bulldogs fall to 12-2 on the year.

KEY STATS

- Limestone out-shot Wingate 59-43
- The Saints held a 38-27 advantage in shots on goal
- Limestone won 22 of the 41 face-offs
- The 'Dogs had 22 of the 40 turnovers
- LU was 17-for-18 on clear attempts while the Bulldogs were 17-for-22
- The Saints collected 48 ground balls compared to Wingate's 42

KEY BULLDOGS

- Danny Riley had three goals and two ground balls
- Kyle Spence added two goals and an assist
- James Kotcamp won 17 face-offs, scoring two goals while adding nine ground balls
- Matt Papach and Caden Castle registered two goals each
- Marc Cottage had a goal and an assist, with Willie Grieco adding two assists
- Daman Lingasin, Aidan McMahon and Dylan Rupprecht each had a goal
- Jaxon Grant handed out an assist
- Johnny Salamone notched three caused turnovers
- Joe Karnich had two CTs and four ground balls
- Johnny Caponi registered 16 saves, six ground balls and a caused turnover

FIRST PERIOD

- Goals from Lingasin, Riley and Spence gave WU a 3-1 lead seven minutes in
- Goals from Jason Thomfohrde and Austin Lamoureux in the final three minutes tied it at four

SECOND PERIOD

- Riley's goal at the 14:34 mark tied it at five
- Kotcamp then won the face-off and scored six seconds later to put the 'Dogs on top
- Riley's goal with 13:32 to go gave Wingate a 7-6 advantage
- LU scored the next three, taking a 9-7 lead on Tom Szalkowski's goal at the 6:02 mark
- Castle scored off Grieco's assist with 2:21 to go to cut the lead to one

THIRD PERIOD

- Goals from Zachary Terry and Mike McGarry in the first three minutes made it 11-8
- Kotcamp scored off another face-off to cut the lead to two
- Chris Erneston scored with eight minutes left to put the Saints on top 13-9
- Papach and Spence scored in a 50-second span to make it 13-11
- Papach struck again to pull the 'Dogs within one with 3:21 remaining
- Terry and Carter Brand responded with goals to make it 15-12
- Castle scored off Grieco's assist with 1:11 remaining
- Rupprecht won the ensuing face-off and scored seven seconds later to make it 15-14

FOURTH PERIOD

- Jason Thomfohrde scored 41 seconds in to push the lead back to two
- McMahon scored off a Spence assist to make it 16-15 with 13:31 to go
- Limestone ended the game by scoring the final six goals
- Thomfohrde  and Terry started the spurt with goals to make it 18-15
- Lamoureux made it 19-15 at the 6:10 mark
- Back-to-back Thomfohrde goals put the Saints on to by six with 4:18 remaining  

UP NEXT

- Limestone will face Lenoir-Rhyne in Monday's SAC title game
- Wingate will learn its postseason fate later in the week when the NCAA field is revealed
- The bracket will be announced Sunday, May 7 at 7:30 p.m. on NCAA.com
- The second-ranked Bulldogs were ranked third in the most recent NCAA Region poll