• With the victory, HPU advances to the Big South semifinals Friday (4 p.m.) at top-seeded Winthrop
• Sophomore Samantha Brown posted a career-best five goals to lead the HPU offense
• Junior Kristina Renner tied the HPU school record with seven draw controls and set a new HPU single season record for draw controls (48)
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The fourth-seeded High Point University women’s lacrosse team used a dominating performance at the draw to propel past No. 5 Longwood, 14-9, on Tuesday in Big South quarterfinal action inside Vert Stadium.
High Point (8-9) led 5-3 at the half, but used a 4-0 run over the first 1:23 of the second half to build a 9-3 advantage. The Lancers could not move closer than three (11-8) for the remainder of the game.
With the victory, HPU moves on to the semifinals Friday, where the Panthers will take on top-seeded Winthrop at 4 p.m. in Rock Hill, S.C.
“It’s nice to get a win at home to open the conference tournament,” head coach Lyndsey Boswell said. “We’re excited to move on and get down to Winthrop for the semifinals. We executed our game plan well to start the second half and took control of the draw.”
After a tight 5-4 advantage for HPU at the draw in the first half, the Panthers held a sizable 13-3 edge in the second half during their big run. Junior Kristina Renner tied the school record with seven draws in the game and in the process, moved past current HPU assistant coach Grace Gaeng and into first place on HPU’s all-time single season draws list (48).
“Our draw starts with Kristina, and she executed extremely well tonight,” Boswell said. “It was great to see her break the school record and we’re thrilled with her performance.”
Sophomore attack Samantha Brown put together a breakout performance to lead the Panther offense. The Basking Ridge, N.J., native tallied a career-best five goals, shattering her previous high of two. Brown posted the first two scores of HPU’s second half run and added a pair of consecutive goals midway through the half when Longwood had cut the lead to three.
“I’m extremely excited for Sam,” Boswell said. “Her performance was a result of all the hard work she’s putting in off the field. To do it in an important tournament game provides great momentum for her and our team as we move further in this championship.”
Junior Allie Foard chipped in four points on two goals and two assists for HPU, while fellow junior Emily Meier added two goals and an assist. Freshman Erica Perrotta tallied two goals, four ground balls, two draw controls and two caused turnovers, while junior Leah Pace added two goals, four ground balls and three draw controls.
HPU held a 28-21 edge in shots and 22-12 advantage in ground balls for the game. Junior goalkeeper Julia Burns made seven saves in a full 60 minutes in the cage.
HPU scored the first four goals of the game and led 5-1 after a goal from Brown at the 12:30 mark of the first half. The Lancers scored the final two goals of the half to trail 5-3 at the break, but HPU again stormed out of the gate with four goals in the first 1:23 of the second half to build a 9-3 edge.
Two goals from the Lancers moved Longwood within three (11-8) with 10:41 to go, but a pair of goals from Brown put HPU back up five (13-8) with 3:45 to play and ultimately sealed the win for the Purple & White.
With the victory, HPU improved to 15-0 all-time at home in Big South regular season and tournament contests.