HPU WLAX Honors Seniors With 8-7 OT Win Over Winthrop

• Junior Allie Foard led HPU with a hat trick and scored the game-winning goal with 23 seconds to play in overtime
• Senior goalkeeper Julia Burns made 14 saves, including a key stop with 1:30 to go in overtime
• HPU now enters the Big South Tournament as the No. 4 seed and hosts No. 5 Longwood on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University women’s lacrosse team wrapped up the regular season with a thrilling, 8-7 overtime victory over Winthrop on Senior Night inside Vert Stadium.

HPU trailed 6-3 early in the second half, but stormed back with a 3-0 run to tie the score with 13:11 to play. After the game went to overtime tied at 7-7, junior Allie Foard posted the game-winning goal with 23 seconds to play in the extra session to send the Panthers home with a huge victory.

The Panthers improved to 5-2 in Big South play with the win and handed the Eagles their first loss in league play (6-1, 14-3 overall). HPU will now enter the 2015 Big South Tournament as the No. 4 seed and host No. 5 Longwood on Tuesday at 6 p.m. inside Vert Stadium.

“We hadn’t played a complete game all year but I thought we did that well tonight and it showed on the scoreboard,” head coach Lyndsey Boswell said. “We knew we had to push the ball up the field quickly to give ourselves a chance in the end. The girls saw the opening and Allie came through and scored. Julia Burns came up huge in the cage on the other side of the field throughout the game.”

Burns played a phenomenal game and just missed her career best with an impressive 14 saves in a full 66 minutes of action. She allowed just seven goals en route to a .667 save percentage.

Winthrop came into the contest averaging 17 goals per game in league play, but the Panther defense stymied the Eagle attack throughout the contest. The seven-goal output was Winthrop’s lowest in league play and the fewest goals posted by the team since March 18.

Foard led the Panthers with her fourth hat trick of the Big South season, while sophomore Samantha Brown added three points on two goals and an assist. Senior Kendyl Gardner added two points (1g, 1a) while freshman Erica Perrotta added a goal, three ground balls and a team-high four draw controls on the night.

Winthrop held a 31-21 edge in shots for the game and was +5 (12-7) from the draw, but the Panthers held the edge in ground balls (21-19) and were +5 (12-7) in saves.

The Eagles posted the first two goals of the game, before scores from junior Kristina Renner and Foard tied the game at 2-2 with 7:27 to play in the first half. Perrotta went coast to coast to give HPU its first lead of the game (3-2) with 5:40 to play in the half, but Winthrop scored the final two goals of the stanza to take a 4-3 lead into the break.

Winthrop continued its run with two goals to open the second half and led 6-4 with 25:41 to go. But from there, Brown provided a huge spark with two goals in less than two minutes to cut the Eagle edge to one (6-5) at the 21:45 mark. Then, after eight minutes of scoreless action, Foard scored off a great feed from junior Leah Pace to knot the score at 6-6 with 13:11 to go.

Winthrop scored off the free position to take a 7-6 lead with 9:28 remaining. At that point, HPU ratcheted up the defense, forcing turnovers on the next three Winthrop possessions. Then, Gardner made a beautiful move to the cage and scored to tie the score at 7-7 with 5:46 to go. Brown put a great attempt on goal that WU’s Alaina Girani saved with 2:13 to go, and the HPU defense stopped Winthrop on its final possession of regulation to send the game into overtime.

Neither team could score in the first three minutes of the overtime session, and Winthrop won the draw after the two teams switched sides of the field. The Eagles then ran the clock down to 1:30 and had a great look at the game-winning goal. But Burns made an incredible save from point blank range to give HPU another shot.

The Panthers quickly brought the ball up the field and Foard scored off a great feed from Brown to give the Purple & White the exhilarating victory.