WINGATE, N.C. –The Lincoln Memorial men's lacrosse team will vie for a spot in the South Atlantic Conference title game on Friday at 1:30 p.m. when they face off against the Wingate Bulldogs at Graham Gill Field.  
 
The Railsplitters (14-3) claimed the first postseason victory in program history on Tuesday by pulling out a gritty 13-10 win over Coker at the LMU Soccer Complex. Lincoln Memorial trailed 10-9 late in the third quarter, but closed on a 4-0 run to advance to the SAC semifinals. 
 
Wingate (9-5) earned a first-round bye after finishing in second place in the SAC standings with a 7-1 conference mark. The Bulldogs are riding a five-match winning streak that dates back to a 12-11 win over Lincoln Memorial on March 31, which snapped the Railsplitters' program-record eight-game winning streak. 
 
The winner of Friday's matchup will advance to the SAC Championship title game to take on the winner between Lenoir-Rhyne and Queens on Sunday.
 
Schedule / Game Day Links: 
 
Friday, April 27 vs. Wingate – Wingate, N.C., 1:30 p.m. 
Live Stats  
Video  
 
Quick Hits: 
 
- The Railsplitters started and ended well against Coker in Tuesday's SAC quarterfinals match to notch the first postseason win in program history. Lincoln Memorial raced out to a 5-1 lead before allowing the Cobras to rally back and take leads of 9-8 and 10-9. However, Adam Golia scored the game-tying goal with 1:44 left in the third quarter to spark the Railsplitters' 4-0 closing run. Kyle Arcuri put the game-winning goal through at the 12:49 mark of the fourth, while Robert Tucker scored twice in the final 3:31 to put the game on ice. 
 
- Freshman goalie Michael Kessler was a major difference maker in the Railsplitters' win, as the Wantagh, N.Y. native matched his second-highest save output of the season with 13 to offset Coker's 23-19 edge in shots on goal. Kessler leads the SAC in goals against average with 8.99 and ranks fourth in save percentage with a 52.7 percent clip. 
 
- Golia had a goal and three assists against Coker to push his season point total to 105, which is tied for the 10th-most in the history of Division II men's lacrosse. The Victoria, British Columbia native is now responsible for just the second season with at least 105 points this century. Merrimack's Gregory Rogowski had the only other one with a 108-point campaign in 2006. 
 
- Lincoln Memorial boasts four of the SAC's top 15 points producers. Golia leads the league with his 105 points, which are 25 more than any other player in the league. Arcuri is third with 68 on 36 goals and 32 assists, while Tucker and Billy Kopsky are 13th and 14th, respectively. Tucker has 40 points with 27 goals and 13 assists, while Kopsky has 39 with 20 goals and 19 assists. 
 
- The Railsplitters are in the top 10 in the nation in scoring offense with 15.65 goals per game, scoring margin with an average margin of victory of 7.18, shot percentage with a 34.9 percent mark, points per game with 26.18, man-up offense with a 41.3 percent conversion rate, assists per game with 10.53 and caused turnovers per game with 11.12. Lincoln Memorial's 14 wins are tied with Rockhurst, Colorado Mesa and Le Moyne for the second-most in the country. Lenoir-Rhyne is first with 15. 
 
- Lincoln Memorial leads the nation in total ground balls with 679 and ranks second in ground balls per game with 39.94. Hunter Clark leads that effort with 7.00 ground balls per game, as the sophomore is just two away from becoming the first player in program history with 100 in a season. 
 
Know the Opponent: 
 
- Wingate has not lost since suffering an 18-5 setback on March 24 against Limestone, which has won three of the last four Division II titles. Since then, the Bulldogs have beaten Lincoln Memorial 12-11, Newberry 17-6, Coker 11-10, Tusculum 13-9 and Queens 10-9. 
 
- The Bulldogs were last in action in that 10-9 win over Queens on April 21, which clinched the No. 2 seed for the SAC tournament. Wingate fell behind 2-0 early and trailed 7-6 at the half, but opened the second half with a 4-0 run and held on for the victory. Seth Grimwood, Jeremy Sullivan, Conor Gronbach and Alex Llerandi led Wingate with a pair of goals apiece. 
 
- Wingate has the SAC's third-stingiest defensive unit with an average of 9.50 goals allowed per match. The Bulldogs are also extremely careful with the ball, ranking fourth in the nation in turnovers per game with just 13.14. 
 
- Wingate boasts a balanced offense with six players that have accounted for between 38 and 23 points this season. Gronboch leads the team with 27 goals and 11 assists while Grimwood has contributed 16 goals and a team-leading 15 assists. Sullivan has put up 21 goals and eight assists, Llerandi has 20 goals and eight assists, Josh Ferentinos has 10 goals and 14 assists, and Bobby Padden has produced 14 goals and nine assists. 
 
- The Bulldogs are the defending SAC tournament champions as they defeated Queens in an 11-10 overtime thriller to win the 2017 crown. Wingate lost to Limestone in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament to end the 2017 campaign with a 13-4 record. 
 
- Senior Jacob Ormerod and sophomore Ryan Ahrens have split goalie duties for the Bulldogs. Ormerod has made 10 appearances and eight starts, posting a 9.23 goals against average and 47.9 save percentage over that span, while Ahrens has made seven appearances and six starts with a 9.95 goals against average and 48.6 save percentage. Ahrens has started the last two matches and combined for 16 saves over that two outings. 
 
Series History:
 
- Wingate won a 12-11 thriller on March 31 to snap Lincoln Memorial's eight-game winning streak and perfect 4-0 SAC start. The Railsplitters led 7-5 early in the third quarter, but the Bulldogs scored three unanswered goals to take the lead for good. Lincoln Memorial tied it twice after that and had two shots to tie it in the final minute of regulation, but Ormerod made a pair of saves to preserve the one-goal victory. 
 
- Tucker and Reggie Golfin led LMU with two goals apiece. Dylan Neisler, Arcuri and Golia had a goal and an assist apiece, but the two points matched a season-low mark for Golia. Grimwood led Wingate with three goals and two assists. Sullivan and Gronbach had two goals apiece. 
 
- The Railsplitters are 0-4 all-time against Wingate, including an 0-3 mark in Wingate, N.C. The Bulldogs have won two of the four games in the series by one goal, including a 10-9 victory in 2015. 
 
- Friday will be the first-ever postseason matchup between the two squads.