GAFFNEY, S.C. – Nationally top-ranked Limestone College surged out to a 4-0 lead before No. 9 Wingate University registered its first shot attempt, and the Saints would not look back from there as they posted a 14-5 win in the NCAA Division II Men's Lacrosse Quarterfinals on Saturday, May 13.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Score: No. 1 Limestone 14, No. 9 Wingate 5
Records:  No. 1 Limestone (19-1), No. 9 Wingate (13-4)
Location: Saints Field
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
 

• Junior Charlie Sheehan (St. Catharines, Ontario) paced the Saints with four goals and two assists
• Junior Ryan Maciejewski (Penn Yan, N.Y.) posted four goals
• Senior Colton Watkinson (Burlington, Ontario) chipped in a goal and two assists
• Senior Chris Clancy (Peterborough, Ontario) also registered a goal and two assists
• Redshirt-junior Brendan P. Smith (West Islip, N.Y.) added a pair of goals
• Senior Kevin Reisman (West Babylon, N.Y.) went 16-of-17 at the "X" and scooped up 10 groundballs
• Junior keeper Cole Aikens (Novato, Calif.) finished with 12 saves in his first career playoff start
• Limestone recorded a 45-25 advantage in shots attempted – almost half of Wingate's shots came in the fourth quarter

 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
First Quarter
 
Limestone came out aggressive on the offensive end to start the game, posting four shots over the first 90 seconds of play before Smith put the home team in front, 1-0, with his 42^nd goal of the season. A few ticks later, Sheehan made it a 2-0 game with his first goal of the afternoon.
 
The Saints continued to build up its lead in the early going as Sheehan planted a man-up goal off a feed from Watkinson before freshman Tyler Papa (Manlius, N.Y.) staked the Blue and Gold to a 4-0 advantage with 5:02 left in the opening quarter.
 
Wingate registered its first shot attempt of the day at the 3:33-mark, and then would get on the board late in the period to close the margin to 4-1 at the end of one.  
 
Second Quarter
 
Early in the second, Maciejewski split the frame for the first time in the 2017 playoffs before Sheehan completed his hat trick with 8:43 remaining in the half. Limestone carried that same 6-1 score into the break, and posted a 26-8 advantage in shots and a 21-8 edge in groundballs over the first 30 minutes.
 
Third Quarter
 
The Blue and Gold extended its cushion to 8-1 midway through the third period as Clancy tallied his only score of the day just 49 seconds into the quarter before junior Ben Higgins (Hampstead, Md.) rifled his 31^st goal of the season past the keeper with 7:13 showing on the clock.  
 
The Bulldogs ended a scoring drought that lasted nearly 27 minutes at the 5:33-mark, but Limestone countered on the other end on a goal by Watkinson less than a minute later. Sheehan closed the scoring in the third with a laser into the upper righthand corner to make it a 10-2 game with four ticks remaining.
 
Fourth Quarter
 
Smith registered a man-up goal early in the fourth to put Limestone up 11-2, but Wingate would post back-to-back scores to cut the margin to seven a few moments later. That would be the closest things would get, however, as Maciejewski scored three times over the final 9:23 of regulation for the Saints.
 
TURNING POINT
 
Limestone raced out to a 4-0 lead over the first 10 minutes of the contest, and would never really be threatened the rest of the way as it pushed the margin to as much as nine twice in the second half.  
 
NOTABLES
 

• Limestone improves to 5-0 all-time in the NCAA Division II quarterfinals
• The Saints have won nine of their last 10 NCAA playoff games
• The Blue and Gold extended its home winning streak to 31 straight games, including playoffs
• Wingate was making its second NCAA Tournament appearance, and the first since 2001
• Limestone improves to 23-2 all-time against the Bulldogs
• Reisman surpassed 900 groundballs for his career and now has 1,270 faceoff wins in his four-year tenure with the Blue and Gold
• It was the third time this season that Sheehan recorded at least six points in a game

 
UP NEXT
 
Limestone will host No. 8 University of Tampa in the national semifinals for a second straight year and for the third time over the last four seasons. The third-seeded Spartans upended No. 7 Lenoir-Rhyne University, 11-8, in the other South Region quarterfinal game. Game date and time have not yet been announced.