Wingate, N.C.----The top-seeded and 16th-ranked Wingate University Bulldogs punched their ticket to the SAC Tournament championship game in emphatic fashion Wednesday evening, cruising to a 22-7 victory over Newberry College in the semifinals of the South Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse tournament at Irwin Belk Stadium and Founders Field. The Bulldogs improve to 15-3 overall, advancing to this weekend's SAC title game against Lenoir-Rhyne. The Wolves fall to 10-9 on the season.
KEY STATS
- Wingate out-shot Newberry 38-15
- The Bulldogs held a 28-9 advantage in shots on goal
- The 'Dogs won 23 of the 30 draw controls
- Wingate was 10-for-11 on clears; Newberry went 10-for-19
- Each team had 18 turnovers
- The Bulldogs held a 20-16 edge in ground balls
KEY BULLDOGS
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Amelia Benner piled up four goals and four assists
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Bree Solero poured in four goals, adding two caused turnovers and a draw control
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Lauryn Knutson contributed a goal and three assists
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Madison Slayton had three goals, five draw controls, two CTs and a turnover
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Julia Garvin also scored three goals
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Deirdre Jones added a pair of goals and an assist
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Stacy Glover collected two goals
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Jamie Weber and
Livy Rondeau each scored a goal
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Charlotte Parnell handed out an assist
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Sophie Pavlick piled up 10 draw controls
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Kathryn McCabe notched four draw controls, four CTs and five ground balls
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Krysta Churns added three CTs, four ground balls and a draw control
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Saskia Aunger registered a pair of saves
FIRST QUARTER
- Benner started the scoring 37 seconds in
- Solero scored a minute later
- Slayton scored off a Benner assist 20 seconds later to put the 'Dogs on top 3-0
- Garvin's goal off Knutson's assist at the 9:40 mark made it 4-1
- Rondeau scored two minutes later, while a Benner goal off a Jones assist made it 6-1
- Garvin scored off another Knutson assist to push the lead to six
- Slayton's goal 41 seconds later gave the Bulldogs an 8-1 cushion
- Shannon Creagh scored in the final minute to cut the WU lead to six
SECOND QUARTER
- Creagh scored a minute into the second frame to make it 8-3
- The Bulldogs scored the next seven goals to go on top 15-3
- Jones started the flurry off a Benner assist at the 13:21 mark
- Knutson scored 38 seconds later, while Benner's goal with 10 minutes left made it 11-3
- Glover scored back-to-back goals in a 90-second span to give Wingate a 10-goal lead
- Solero then scored two straight goals off Benner assists to make it 15-3 with 3:20 left
THIRD QUARTER
- Garvin started the second-half scoring 77 seconds in off a Knutson assist
- Slayton's goal with 12 minutes remaining put the 'Dogs on top 17-4
- Solero scored three minutes later to stretch the lead to 14
FOURTH QUARTER
- Jones scored 32 seconds into the final frame
- Benner scored the 20th goal for the Bulldogs with 11:20 to go
- Brooks scored off Parnell's assist with 3:24 remaining
- Weber capped the WU scoring at the 1:48 mark off a Brooks assist to make it 22-6
UP NEXT
- Wingate will face Lenoir-Rhyne in the SAC championship game this weekend in Matthews
- The contest is slated to begin Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Matthews SportsPlex
