HICKORY, N.C. – Trailing 9-1 late in the first half, the nationally 13^th-ranked Limestone University men's lacrosse team mounted a furious rally to tie the game behind an 8-0 spurt, but the comeback bid would run out of steam in the late stages as No. 3 Wingate University held on for a 14-10 decision in the South Atlantic Conference Semifinals on April 23 at Moretz Stadium on the campus of Lenoir-Rhyne University.
 
Friday marked the final conference tournament game for six seniors and graduate students in the Blue and Gold: senior Christopher Parrott (Havre de Grace, Md.), graduate Jake Crotser (Oneonta, N.Y.), graduate Jordan Stouros (Ottawa, Ontario), senior Dakota Kirsch-Downs (Odenton, Md.), graduate Jarrett Dargusch (Sewell, N.J.), and graduate Michael Tomcho (Vestal, N.Y.).
 
GAME INFORMATION
Score: No. 3 Wingate 14, No. 13 Limestone 10
Records: No. 3 Wingate (11-1), No. 13 Limestone (10-4)
Location: Moretz Stadium
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
 

• Freshman Chris Erneston IV (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) finished with four goals and an assist
• Junior midfielder Connor Grauer (Riverhead, N.Y.) added three goals and three groundballs
• Senior midfielder Dorian Faster (New Freedom, Pa.) scored twice on 12 shot attempts
• Junior attack Owen Consoletti (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) was limited to just one score
• Freshman attack Frank Smith (Bayville, N.Y.) had an assist while posting 12 shots
• Sophomore Ethan Stannard (Caledon, Ontario) was also held to just an assist
• Senior Christopher Parrott (Havre de Grace, Md.) went 19-of-26 at the "X" with 14 groundballs
• Graduate Jordan Stouros (Ottawa, Ontario) had two caused turnovers and six groundballs
• Graduate keeper William Baxter (Manchester, England) finished with eight saves
• The Blue and Gold scored just 10 goals despite a commanding 54-39 disparity in shot attempts
• Limestone logged seven goals in the third period, but only three over the other 45 minutes
• The Saints also outpaced the Bulldogs in groundballs, 40-24, but turned the ball over 23 times

 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
First Quarter
 
In a battle of the top two defenses in the SAC, neither team was willing to give an inch in the early going as the Bulldogs withstood five shot attempts from the Saints over the first six minutes. The Limestone defense forced a pair of turnovers on three possessions, but Wingate would pull ahead 1-0 with 7:19 left.
 
The Bulldogs took advantage of seven Limestone turnovers in the opening quarter, turning the extra offensive possessions into a 3-0 lead with less than two minutes remaining. For the second time in two meetings with the Bulldogs this season, the Blue and Gold was held scoreless over the first 15 minutes.
 
Second Quarter
 
The Bulldogs took advantage of another turnover in the opening moments of the second, making it a 4-0 game with 12:58 left in the first half. Limestone had nothing working on offense as a shot by Smith was on target but pulled in before Wingate expanded the margin to 5-0 with a transition goal on the other end.
 
The Saints were trailing 7-0 before they finally got on the board at the 3:35-mark of the period when Grauer took it unassisted to snap a 26-minute scoring drought. Wingate would counter with back-to-back scores, but a goal by Erneston in the closing minutes helped the Saints close the gap to 9-2 at the half.
 
Limestone recorded 25 shot attempts in the first half, but managed just two goals, while the Bulldogs logged nine scores on 18 shots. The Saints committed 13 turnovers in the half with seven being unforced.   
 
Third Quarter
 
The Blue and Gold came out of the break a completely different team and thoroughly dominated the third quarter with seven unanswered goals. Grauer tallied his second of the game a few ticks into the period before Faster gave the offense life, finishing off a feed from Smith to cut the lead to 9-4 with 10:40 left.
 
Limestone continued to pour it on midway through the quarter as Erneston buried consecutive goals within about a 50-second span. Stannard would then hit Consolleti to trim the margin to 9-7 with 4:50 remaining before the Saints came all the way back to tie the game at 9-all with a pair of extra-man goals.
 
Faster tallied his second goal of the game less than a minute after Consolleti's score, and then Grauer completed Limestone's comeback with his third tally off an assist from Erneston. However, Wingate snapped the long 8-0 run with a goal in the final minute to take a 10-9 edge at the end of the third period.
 
Fourth Quarter
 
The Bulldogs pulled ahead by two scores about three minutes into the final quarter, but Limestone answered on the other side as Erneston split the cage to close the gap to 11-10 with 11:18 left in regulation. That would be the closest the Saints would get the rest of the way though as Wingate came right back with a man-up goal before adding two late scores to hold off the Blue and Gold for a 14-10 win.
 
TURNING POINT
 
Trailing 9-2 at the half following an extremely slow start, the Saints turned it on in the third period as they used a seven-goal outburst in the frame to tie the game at 9-all. However, the rally would run out of steam late as Wingate snapped the run with a late goal in the third before scoring three out of four in the fourth.
 
NOTABLES
 

• For the first time since 1997, Limestone did not win a regular season or a tournament title
• The Saints recorded 21 shot attempts in the third and 38 shots over the middle quarters
• Limestone went 20-of-27 in the faceoff circle, including an 8-of-9 clip in the third quarter
• Stouros wraps up his career ranked second all-time in team history with 68 caused turnovers and sixth all-time with 215 groundballs
• Kirsch-Downs finishes up his time at Limestone as one of only two players in program history to record over 300 career groundballs – he is fifth all-time with a .633 faceoff winning percentage
• Parrott also made his mark in the record book, ranking third with a .681 career faceoff winning percentage while finishing fourth with 244 groundballs
• Crotser will always be the first player in team history to earn first-team All-SAC honors
• Dargusch posted nine caused turnovers and 12 groundballs during his time at Limestone
• Tomcho played in 12 games in his final year, making two starts, and recorded four caused turnovers and six groundballs

UP NEXT

The Saints, who were listed as under consideration in the first published NCAA Rankings, will have to wait and see if they will be one of the five teams selected for the NCAA South Regional Tournament.