CLEVELAND, Tenn. – On a chilly Sunday afternoon, Wingate University scored five straight goals in the second quarter and never looked back on the way to a 13-8 victory over the homestanding Lee University lacrosse team. With the loss, Lee fell to 0-2 on the season, while Wingate improved to 3-0. Despite four goals from Noelle Harrington and three from Lily Tomczik the Lady Flames could not generate enough offense to stay with the Bulldogs.
The first quarter was played quickly with only two goals from Julia Garvin and Nelida Watson for Wingate. Wingate took 12 shots in the first quarter, but freshman goalkeeper Savannah Wiseman for Lee made six saves to keep it close.
The Lady Flames started the second quarter quickly with a goal from Harrington and Callie Curtis in the first three and half minutes to tie the game up at 2-2. However, Kaleigh Wilgeroth took over for Wingate. She scored three goals in four minutes with Watson and Amelia Benner each adding one more to make it a 7-2 game at the halfway point.
Once again Lee came out of the gates strongly in the third quarter with two goals 50 seconds apart for Tomczik. Wingate had an answer as Danielle Scarfogliero had two goals and Megan Millard had one to give Wingate ten goals. Harrington and Tomczik each added another goal in the third and the Lady Flames trailed 10-6 after 45 minutes of action.
Watson and Claire Fuchs started the fourth to give Wingate 12 goals. After Harrington scored her third goal of the game, Wilgeroth had her fourth goal for Wingate. Harrington scored her fourth and final goal of the game with two minutes left and Lee fell 13-8.
Wiseman had another very strong game in goal as she had 13 saves and six ground balls in the loss. Riley Boone had eight saves for Wingate in the win.
Wingate outshot the Lady Flames 35-23 in the contest and was 1-for-4 at the free position spot. Lee did not have a free position shot in the loss. The Bulldogs had a big advantage in draw controls with 18 to just seven for Lee.
The Lady Flames next game will on Saturday, February 22 as they will head to Tusculum University in Greeneville, Tenn.
Coach Megan Smith's Thoughts:
"We've been working hard on integrating 14 new people. I am proud of the fact we worked hard against the #16 team in the country and made in game adjustments. We got to see people step up that haven't stepped up before, so it was good to see that growth. We made some mistakes that we are working on, but we were in it the whole game."
