Mars Hill, N.C.----Two-time National Attackman of the Year Willie Grieco piled up four goals and five assists Saturday afternoon, leading #7 Wingate to a dominant 23-5 victory at Mars Hill in South Atlantic Conference men's lacrosse action. The Bulldogs improve to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the SAC, while the Lions fall to 2-4 overall and 0-1 in league play.

KEY STATS

- Wingate out-shot Mars Hill 53-19, with a 36-10 advantage in shots on goal
- The 'Dogs won 18 of the 31 face-offs
- The Bulldogs went 29-for-30 on clear attempts while the Lions were 18-for-23
- Mars Hill turned it over 28 times compared to Wingate's 12; WU caused 13 turnovers
- The 'Dogs held a 46-28 advantage in ground balls
- Wingate went three-for-four on man-up opportunities

KEY BULLDOGS

- Grieco led the way with his nine points, adding five ground balls and a pair of CTs
- Danny Riley had a goal and four assists
- Kyle Spence collected a goal and three assists
- Joey Moran and Aidan McMahon scored three goals apiece
- Zach Samson registered a goal and two assists
- Sean Clark, Luke Hickam and Marc Cottage added two goals apiece
- Jaxon Grant had a goal and an assist
- Zachary Pizzimenti, Caden Castle and Ethan Schmidt each scored a goal
- Matt Papach and Sam Goss had an assist apiece
- Nick Arnold led the defense with three caused turnovers
- John Natoli had four ground balls and two CTs
- Trent Connolly added four ground balls and a CT
- Logan Spaeth won nine-of-13 face-offs, picking up four ground balls
- Thomas Sullivan had three saves, allowing just four goals in 45 minutes
- Quad Williams added two saves on the day

FIRST PERIOD

- Moran started the scoring 87 seconds in off a Grieco assist
- McMahon scored off Samson's assist at the midway point of the frame
- Grieco scored 40 seconds later to make it 3-0
- Hickam's goal at the 3:57 mark pushed the lead to four
- Grieco capped the scoring in the opening frame off a Spence assist to make it 5-0

SECOND PERIOD

- Grieco scored 24 seconds in off a Riley assist
- MHU got on the board with 11 minutes left, but the 'Dogs answered with the final five goals of the half
- Grieco and McMahon scored 29 seconds apart to make it 8-1
- Moran scored off a Grant assist with five minutes left to push the lead to eight
- Samson and Grant added goals to make it 11-1 with 1:32 to go
- Hickam capped the scoring in the half off Riley's assist with 27 seconds remaining

THIRD PERIOD

- Mars Hill scored twice in the first three minutes to cut the lead to nine
- WU scored the next six, starting with a McMahon goal off Grieco's assist at the 10:03 mark
- Clark scored back-to-back goals off assists from Riley and Spence to make it 15-3
- Moran scored off a Riley assist at the 5:23 mark, while Riley scored off Grieco's assist a minute later
- Castle scored with 3:46 to go off Grieco's assist to put the 'Dogs on top 18-3
- Cottage scored off Grieco's assist with two minutes left to make it 19-4 heading to the fourth

FOURTH PERIOD

- Cottage started the scoring off a Spence goal, while Spence scored off Samson's assist to make it 21-4
- Pizzimenti's goal at the 7:24 mark came off a Papach assist
- Schmidt scored with 5:09 remaining to make it 23-4

UP NEXT

- Wingate is back in action Saturday, facing #4 Tampa at 11 a.m. at the Crown Classic in Charlotte