Wingate Takes Second Straight SAC Tourney Crown with 12-9 Victory Over No. 3 Lenoir-Rhyne
Wingate University junior attack Alex Llerandi scored five goals, leading the Bulldogs to a 12-9 South Atlantic Conference men’s lacrosse tournament championship game victory over number three Lenoir-Rhyne Sunday.
Story Courtesy of Wingate Athletic Media Relations
Wingate, N.C.----Wingate University junior attack Alex Llerandi scored five goals, leading the Bulldogs to a 12-9 South Atlantic Conference men's lacrosse tournament championship game victory over number three Lenoir-Rhyne Sunday. Llerandi was voted the tournament MVP for the back-to-back SAC tournament champion Bulldogs.
Wingate redshirt freshman goalie Ryan Ahrens had a career-high 18 saves in 60 minutes played. Bulldog senior attack Seth Grimwood added two goals and one assist. For Lenoir-Rhyne, senior midfielder Ben Corrigan had three goals and two assists. Bear sophomore midfielder Eric Dickinson had two goals and two assists.
First Quarter
Wingate led 3-1 after the opening 15 minutes. Bulldog freshman attack Bobby Padden got things started at the 10:07 mark. Cooper and Llerandi added first quarter goals for the Bulldogs. LRU junior attack Ryan Bell scored the only Bears' goal in the first quarter, a man-up tally with three minutes left.
Second Quarter
Bell scored the first goal of the second quarter on an assist from Dickinson. Llerandi responded to make the score 4-2 before the Bears scored back-to-back goals by Dickinson and junior attack Joe Buduo to tie the score 4-4 with 6:32 left. Buduo assisted on the Dickinson goal, while Dickinson returned the favor on the Buduo score. Grimwood finished the second stanza scoring at the 2:48 mark to give the Bulldogs a 5-4 halftime lead.
Third Quarter
Llerandi scored three goals in the third frame as Wingate outscored Lenoir-Rhyne 5-3. Grimwood (1:13) and Llerandi (0:12) completed the third quarter scoring to put the Bulldogs up 10-7. Corrigan posted two third-quarter goals for the Bears.
Fourth Quarter
Cooper opened the fourth quarter scoring with an unassisted goal at the 9:20 mark, giving the Bulldogs their biggest lead at 11-7. Corrigan (8:51) and Dickinson (3:46) found the back of the nets to pull the Bears within two at 11-9. Corrigan assisted on the Dickinson goal. Wingate senior attack Jeremy Sullivan completed the day's scoring with 42 seconds to play.
NOTABLES
Wingate head coach Tim Boyle has guided the Bulldogs to two SAC tournament championships in his two seasons.
NEXT ON THE AGENDA
Both teams will await word on potential NCAA tournament bids.
2018 SAC MEN'S LACROSSE ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Queens: Anthony Valenza
Lincoln Memorial: Michael Kessler
Lenoir-Rhyne: Eric Dickinson, Collin Lett, Shane Gottberg
Wingate: Mark James, Ryan Ahrens, Reese Orman, Sean Moran, Alex Llerandi (MVP)