CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Trailing by three goals with just over five minutes left, the nationally seventh-ranked Limestone University men's lacrosse team rallied to force overtime but would fall to fourth-ranked Wingate University, 11-10, in the SAC opener and a thrilling finale to the Crown Lacrosse Classic Saturday night.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Score: No. 4 Wingate 11, No. 7 Limestone 10 (OT)
Records: No. 4 Wingate (3-1, 1-0), No. 7 Limestone (4-1, 0-1)
Location: American Legion Memorial Stadium
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
 

• Senior Dorian Faster (New Freedom, Pa.) scored four goals to go with a pair of assists
• Sophomore Chris Erneston IV (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) added a hat trick for the Saints
• Senior Gavin Kesselring (Atlanta, Ga.) finished with a goal and an assist
• Junior Ethan Stannard (Caledon, Ontario) also tallied a score
• Sophomore Grant Rodgers (Columbus, Ohio) logged a goal on seven shot attempts
• Senior specialist Michael Logan (Los Angeles, Calif.) went 12-of-22 at the center "X"
• Graduate Kendall Collins (Hurley, N.Y.) had three caused turnovers and five groundballs
• Freshman Kyle Keesee (Manorville, N.Y.) forced two turnovers to go with a groundball
• Freshman Ryan Morrison (Stevensville, Md.) had two caused turnovers and four groundballs
• Graduate keeper William Baxter (Manchester, England) started and recorded four saves
• Junior keeper Cory Lyons (Reading, Mass.) finished with 14 saves in 36 minutes of action
• Limestone forced Wingate into 23 turnovers, but was guilty of turning it over 23 times as well
• The Saints had a particularly hard time clearing the ball, going just 14-of-23 on clear attempts
• Wingate held a 44-40 edge in shots attempted and a 46-39 margin in groundballs

 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
First Quarter
 
The Saints struck the opening salvo less than a minute into the game as Rogers beat the keeper before Faster added his first goal of the evening a few moments later, making it 2-0. The Bulldogs quickly tied the affair with two goals within a 90-second span, equalizing things at 2-all at the end of the first period.
 
The Blue and Gold, who had been particularly sharp in first quarters entering tonight's game, struggled to find any momentum on offense as it had more turnovers (11) then shots attempted (6) over the first 15 minutes. Limestone went just 2-of-5 on clear attempts in the first quarter, allowing Wingate to even it up.
 
Second Quarter
 
The Bulldogs extended their overall scoring run to three straight goals early in the second, giving the designated home team their first lead of the day, 3-2. Limestone answered a few moments later in what would prove to be a back-and-forth quarter as Kesselring split the cage for a man-up score with 8:52 left.
 
Following another Wingate score, Stannard finished off a feed from Kesselring to tie the game at 4-apeice before Erneston answered a go-ahead goal by the Bulldogs with his first tally off an assist from Faster with 3:55 remaining. However, Wingate would get the last score of the half to take a 6-5 edge into recess.
 
Third Quarter
 
Faster put the Saints back on top, 7-6, with back-to-back goals to start the third quarter, but the Bulldogs quickly tied it back up less than a minute later. That would be the first of four unanswered scores for Wingate in a run that stretched into the fourth quarter. The second goal gave it an 8-7 lead through three.
 
Fourth Quarter and Overtime
 
It appeared that Wingate would pull away as two more scores midway through the fourth quarter made it a 10-7 game with time starting to become a factor. However, the Saints did not go down without a fight, using a 3-0 spurt over the final five minutes of regulation to tie the contest and force an overtime period.
 
Faster started the late surge with his fourth goal of the game before Erneston added consecutive scores, including the equalizer with 25 ticks remaining off an assist from Faster. Tied at 10, Wingate won the first faceoff to start the overtime period and ended the game in less than a minute to steal the 11-10 decision.  
 
TURNING POINT
 
Limestone got off to a hot start, scoring twice over the first three minutes, but the turnover bug would bite hard in the first quarter. Wingate then scored 10 of the next 15 goals to pull ahead 10-7 in the fourth, but the Saints rallied to tie the game late in regulation. However, the Bulldogs would survive Limestone's late charge by winning the opening faceoff in overtime and scoring the sudden victory goal 49 ticks into OT.
 
NOTABLES
 

• The Saints fall to 0-2 at the Crown Lacrosse Classic – they also lost to Lenoir-Rhyne in 2020
• Wingate is now riding a three-game win streak against Limestone
• The Blue and Gold is still well in control of the all-time series with the Bulldogs, leading it 24-5
• Limestone has turned the ball over 20 or more times in all five games this year
• The Saints lost their conference opener for the first time since the 2009 season
• Limestone has four league losses since joining the SAC a year ago – the Saints lost a grand total of two conference games in 14 years while a member of Conference Carolinas

 
UP NEXT
 
The gauntlet is not quite over yet for the Blue and Gold as it faces another program that has had its number recently when No. 9 Lenoir-Rhyne University makes the trip to Saints Field on Saturday, March 12, at 2 p.m. The Bears have won two straight and three of the last four against Limestone since 2018.