HPU Women’s Lacrosse Drops 10-9 Battle To No. 7 Duke

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University women’s lacrosse team held a 4-2 lead at halftime over No. 7 Duke before eventually falling to the Blue Devils 10-9 on Wednesday night at Vert Stadium. The Panthers held Duke to just 10 goals, which matches the team’s season low. Emily Meier, Stephanie Pazulski and Alec Perry each recorded a pair of goals in the contest while Mackenzie Carrol tallied three points on a goal and two assists.

“Duke is a good team and we’re excited to have a good showing against them going into conference play,” said HPU head coach Lyndsey Boswell. “I think this was the type of game we needed to prepare us for conference. I thought we did a good job taking advantage of the mistakes that they made and capitalizing on our chances offensively. We definitely gave ourselves a chance at the end when we were able to win some draw controls that were key for us.”

HPU moves to 4-5 on the season heading into Big South Conference play while Duke is now 8-4 overall on the year.

HPU jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Perry scored a free-position goal with 22:50 left in the first. Following the first of three goals by Duke midfielder Taylor Trimble, Pazulski notched her first of the night to put HPU back in the lead, 2-1. Duke’s Kerrin Maurer, who sits in the top-five in the nation in points with 61 after five points tonight, pulled the Blue Devils back to even before Meier tallied her first followed by Pazulski’s second goal to send the Panthers into the half leading 4-2.

The Panthers expanded the lead less than two minutes into the second half when senior Christie Doughertyscored her fifth of the season to put HPU up two, 5-3. Duke quickly responded with three goals to including two by attacker Kelci Smesko to bring the score back to even.

Meier pushed HPU back into the lead, 6-5, with her second score of the game and 11th on the year with 15:13 remaining in the contest. Perry tacked on her second following another Duke equalizer to put High Point back on top 7-6 with 13:19 remaining.

High Point trailed for the first time following back-to-back goals by Trimble off two assists by Maurer that put Duke ahead 8-7 with 12:05 remaining. The Blue Devils added two more scores to pull up 10-7 before HPU stopped the run with the final two goals of the game by sophomore Leah Pace and Carroll. High Point pushed for an equalizer during the final three minutes but were unable to push one past Duke’s goalie Kelsey Duryea.

Duryea picked up the win for Duke in the cage recording three saves on the night. Junior Julia Burns made five saves in net for the Panthers.

HPU held a 15-12 advantage in ground balls and went 8-of-10 on clear attempts. The Panthers held Duke to 8-of-12 on clears while also causing nine turnovers as a team. Perry led High Point with three caused turnovers in the contest.

High Point has a quick turnaround as the Panthers return to action tomorrow night as the team opens up Big South play against Presbyterian College at 6 p.m. at Vert Stadium. The Panthers are 4-0 all-time against PC.