WINGATE, N.C. – Powered by a 4-1 opening run and a superb defensive effort, the two-seeded Wingate Bulldogs eliminated the three-seeded Railsplitters from the South Atlantic Conference Championship with a 6-4 win in semifinal-round action on Friday at Graham Gill Field. 
 
Freshman goalie Michael Kessler put forth an otherworldly performance in the match, tying the second-most saves in program history with a career-high 19. However, Lincoln Memorial (14-4) was limited to its lowest goal output since the quarterfinals of the 2017 SAC Championship and its lowest shot total (27) since the 2017 opener as the Bulldogs (10-5) advanced to Sunday's SAC title match to face No. 3 Lenoir-Rhyne. 
 
The loss draws the curtain on the most successful season in program history as the Railsplitters set the program record for wins, longest winning streak, points, goals, assists, ground balls, caused turnovers and games played. Lincoln Memorial also made its first-ever appearance in the USILA national poll while also winning the first postseason match in program history. 
 
Nobody finished with more than one point for the Railsplitters, as Wingate blanked Lincoln Memorial in both the first and fourth quarters to power the victory. 
 
Billy Kopsky, Adam Golia, Hunter Clark and Jared Courchene each provided one goal apiece for the Railsplitters, while Dylan Neisler tallied Lincoln Memorial's lone assist of the contest. 
 
Thanks in large part to Kessler's performance in goal, Wingate did not fare much better offensively despite producing a decisive 49-27 edge in shot attempts. Conor Gronbach carried the Bulldog offense with two goals and three assists, while Jeremy Sullivan had two goals and one assist and Josh Ferentinos produced a pair of goals. 
 
Wingate goalie Ryan Ahrens stopped 10 of the 14 shots on goal he faced to preserve the win. 
 
The Railsplitters endured their lowest scoring half of the season as the Bulldogs dominated nearly every aspect of the match's first 30 minutes. Wingate produced a 25-13 edge in shot attempts and was a nearly perfect 13-for-14 on clear attempts, but Kessler kept the game from getting out of hand by making 13 saves, which would have matched the second-highest total of his career in a full match.  
 
Ferentinos scored a man-up goal at the 10:52 mark off an assist from Gronbach to give the Bulldogs the lead, while Gronbach scored a little over a minute later to push it to 2-0. The Railsplitters fired three shots on goal after that but were unable to get one past Ryan Ahrens and trailed 2-0 after one. 
 
Kopsky put the Railsplitters on the board and cut the Bulldogs' lead in half at the 12:01 mark of the second quarter, but Lincoln Memorial mustered just four empty shots for the remainder of the quarter. A man-down goal from Ferentinos at the 11:18 mark and Sullivan's goal with three minutes left sent the Bulldogs into the break leading 4-1. 
 
Lincoln Memorial sparked a rally in the third quarter as Golia punched a goal through at 11:05 to kick off a 3-1 frame. After a Gronbach goal extended the Bulldogs' lead back to three, Clark won a face-off, stormed down field and scored to close the gap to 5-3 with 7:30 on the clock. Courchene then scored in unassisted fashion with 1:20 left in the quarter to pull the Railsplitters within one with one quarter left. 
 
However, Wingate maintained possession for almost the entirety of the fourth quarter and outshot the Railsplitters 15-3 to ice the win. Kessler made three saves in the quarter but Sullivan scored with 6:47 left in regulation to all but clinch the match. Lincoln Memorial put two shots on goal over the final five minutes but Ahrens saved them both to send Wingate to the SAC title match. 
 
The loss brings an end to the careers of Lincoln Memorial's 18-man senior class, which represents the first group of freshmen that joined the men's lacrosse program before its inaugural 2015 campaign. That group helped build a program that went from 4-10 in its debut season to 14-4 in year four.