Lacrosse Advances to SAC Semifinals with Victory over Wingate

MARS HILL, N.C. - The Mars Hill University men's lacrosse team rallied for a 22-17 South Atlantic Conference quarter-final victory over Wingate on Tuesday at the Ammons Family Athletic Center and Meares Stadium on the MHU campus. The Lions utilized a 9-0 run to turn a 12-10 third quarter deficit into a 19-12 fourth quarter advantage.

With the victory, Mars Hill evens its 2015 slate at 6-6 overall. The Lions will face number one seed Queens in Thursday's semi-finals. Game time is slated for 4 p.m. Wingate concludes the 2015 campaign 6-10 overall.

Mars Hill seniors Jimmy McBride and Saxon Weil had six goals and five goals, respectively. Dima Ferriera had three goals and a team-best five assists. Hunter Maggs contributed three goals.

Wingate's Ryan Vogrig established a career-high with nine goals. Austin Murphy dished out a career-high nine assists. Tanner Kotch added three goals.

Wingate never trailed in the first half. Kotch scored on an assist from Murphy to give the Bulldogs a 4-2 lead with 8:22 to go in the first quarter. Vogrig's third goal of the contest (on a Murphy helper) put the 'Dogs up 6-3 two minutes later. Wingate led 6-5 at the end of the first frame.

Vogrig struck again with an unassisted goal to make the score 9-7 Wingate with 6:49 left in the second quarter. Anthony Malcolm scored the last goal of the first half (2:26) to cut the Lion deficit to 9-8. Vogrig posted five of his nine goals in the first half.

Kotch took an assist from Chase Watts to make the score 12-10 Wingate with 8:39 remaining in the third quarter. Mars Hill responded with a 9-0 run, taking a 19-12 advantage on a McBride (from a Ferriera assist) with 10:55 to play in the fourth quarter. Six different Lions contributed goals to the flurry, led by Weil with three and McBride with two.

Wingate did not fold the tents, as Vogrig scored four goals in the final 10:27 to make things interesting. His fourth goal of the frame (on a Murphy assist) cut the Bulldog deficit to 21-17 with 5:24 left in regulation. Weil added his fifth goal (3:41) to settle the final margin.

Mars Hill outshot Wingate 44-31. The Bulldogs held a 33-29 edge in ground balls. Both teams converted one extra-man opportunity in four tries. Wingate won 23 face-offs, compared to 19 for the hosts.

Wingate's Robert Brown won 15-of-26 face-offs, while classmate James Thatcher collected eight face-off wins in 16 tries. Mars Hill face-off specialist Addison Sowell won 19 times.

Mars Hill goalie Jack Grinewich earned the victory. He played 60 minutes, allowing 17 goals and collecting seven saves. Bulldog goalie Jacob Ormerod gave up 20 goals in 51-plus minutes. He had five saves. Michael Connor played eight-plus minutes, surrendering two goals.