Cobras Fall Short to Wingate in Back and Forth Battle

HARTSVILLE, S.C. - The Coker College men's lacrosse team (6-6 overall) fell short to the visiting Wingate University Bulldogs Wednesday (Apr. 11) night by a score of 11-10 in South Atlantic Conference action.

The Cobras came ready to play from the opening whistle and jumped out to an early 3-0 lead over Wingate after the first quarter. Ethan Irizarry began the scoring on an extra-man-opportunity at the 2:25 mark of the quarter. Brooks Long added Coker's second goal of the evening at the 1:39 mark of the stanza and Denton Wilks found the back of the net as time ran out in the quarter off of a well-placed feed from Rylee Marsh.

In the second quarter, Wingate scored four-straight goals to take a 4-3 lead over the Cobras at the 8:37 mark. Coker responded with a goal from Wilks to tie the game up at four, however, Wingate finished the quarter strong with a pair of goals and took a 6-4 lead into halftime.

Trailing 8-5 in the third frame, the Navy and Gold strung together three-straight goals to even the game at three apiece. Irizarry, Wilks, and Long all found the back of the cage during the run. Wingate eventually jumped out to a slim two-goal lead in the fourth quarter with 7:51 remaining, but the Cobras wouldn't quit as Irizarry ripped a shot past the Wingate goalkeeper to trim the Bulldogs' lead to one with 1:42 remaining in regulation. With short time remaining, the Cobras earned a couple of offensive possessions, but failed to score.

Irizarry and Wilks led the Cobras on the offensive end with four points each. Wilks tallied a season-best four goals, while Irizarry finished the night with three goals and one assist. Additionally, Matt Murphy and Long finished with three points in the contest. Defensively, DeShaun Ormond led the Navy and Gold by causing a team-high three turnovers and scooped up five ground balls. In between the pipes, Chris Hagy collected 10 saves.

The Cobras will be back in action on Saturday (Apr. 14) when they host Lees-McRae in their final home game on senior day. Opening faceoff is set for 7 p.m.

McDonald's Player of the Game - Ethan Irizarry