Wingate Completes Undefeated SAC Season; Men's Lax Tourney Bracket Finalized
ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – The Wingate Bulldogs ran the table to capture the outright 2026 South Atlantic Conference Men's Lacrosse Regular Season crown. Wingate topped the Catawba Indians in the regular-season finale to finish 9-0 in league play and earn the top seed in the upcoming SAC Tournament.
The Bulldogs clinched the regular-season title last week and ultimately won the league by two full games. They finished the regular season with a 12-2 overall mark.
The Newberry Wolves captured the No. 2 seed on the strength of a 7-2 SAC record. The Wolves tied the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears in the standings but earned the tiebreaker thanks to a head-to-head win. Newberry receives a bye to the semifinals and will host next Wednesday.
The Bears also went 7-2 in league play and are 10-3 overall, entering the field as the No. 3 seed. Lenoir-Rhyne will be in search of its fifth SAC Tournament title in program history and earned the right to host a quarterfinal game on Saturday.
The Catawba Indians are the No. 4 seed with a 6-3 conference record and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Anderson Trojans following a 22-12 victory. Catawba will also host a quarterfinal contest.
Anderson is the No. 5 seed and will travel to Catawba for the quarterfinal round, looking to avenge an earlier-season loss. The Trojans are 6-3 in conference action and 12-3 overall. Anderson advanced to its first-ever SAC Championship game last year and will look to return this season.
The final seed goes to the Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters, who earn a three-way tiebreaker over the Tusculum Pioneers and the Coker Cobras. All three teams went 3-6 in conference play and posted 1-1 head-to-head records against each other. The next tiebreaker—goal differential in those head-to-head games—favored LMU at +1, followed by Coker at even and Tusculum at -1. Lincoln Memorial advances to face Lenoir-Rhyne.
The SAC Tournament opens with quarterfinal action on Saturday, April 25. The semifinals will be held Wednesday, April 29 at the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, with the championship game scheduled for Saturday, May 2 at 4 p.m. at the Sportsplex at Matthews in Matthews, N.C. Tickets for the championship game are available at tickets.thesac.com.
Saturday, April 25 (at highest seeds)
Game 1: #5 Anderson at #4 Catawba, noon
Game 2: #6 Lincoln Memorial at #3 Lenoir-Rhyne, 1 p.m.
Wednesday, April 29 (at highest seeds)
Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. #1 Wingate, TBA
Game 4: Winner Game 2 vs. #2 Newberry, 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 2 (Matthews, N.C.)
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 4:00 p.m.