High Point Women’s Lacrosse Falls to No. 3 North Carolina

HIGH POINT, N.C. — The High Point University women’s lacrosse team scored five second-half goals but it was too late in a 15-6 loss to No. 3 North Carolina on Tuesday night at Vert Stadium. The Panthers got two goals from Christie Dougherty and a goal and four draw controls from Jasmine Jordan.

“We scheduled a really tough early part of our schedule and I think the team learned a lot that we can take through the rest of the season,” said HPU head coach Lyndsey Boswell. “We knew this was going to be a really tough game. Our halftime adjustments were mental and I feel good about where we are moving forward.”

Jordan also had two caused turnovers and two ground balls in the game. Junior attacker Mackenzie Carroll had a goal and an assist while Alec Perry and Stephanie Pazulski also scored.

North Carolina got three goals, all in the first half, from junior Brittney Coppa and five goals from freshman Devin Markinson. They were Markinson’s first five goals of the season. Sammy Jo Tracy and Taylor George scored two goals a piece.

The Tar Heels scored the first nine goals of the game, including three in the first five minutes, and the Panthers never got closer than six after that. Coppa posted a hat trick with 12:45 left in the first half when she beat her defender on the right side with a low shot to make it 6-0.

Jordan got High Point on the board when she sped through the neutral zone on a clear and went all the way into the arc untouched. Her goal made it 9-1 with 2:57 left in the first half. Markison made it 10-1 on a free-position shot 30 seconds before halftime.

High Point came out with more energy in the second half and scored four of the first five goals in the period. Carroll got HPU on the board when she came around the net and shot over Tar Heel goalie Megan Ward’s shoulder. The game went scoreless until UNC’s Emily Garrity hit a free-position shot with 21:38 left.

The Panthers strung three goals together – two by Dougherty and one from Perry – to draw the game to 11-5 with 11:34 remaining. That was the closest the Panthers got. The Tar Heels scored four unanswered goals, including three in a row from Markison, to put the game out of reach. Pazulski scored on a catch-and-shoot from Carroll with 30 seconds left to make it a 15-6 final.

High Point fell to 2-5 overall while North Carolina improved to 6-1. It was the second No. 3 team HPU played this season after Florida on the opening weekend. The Gators are now ranked No. 2 in the nation.

High Point hits the road to play George Mason on March 23 at 1 p.m. It will be the Panthers’ fifth road game in the past six. High Point then plays seven Big South games in a row starting with Longwood on March 27 at Vert Stadium.