FAIRFAX, Va. – The High Point University women’s lacrosse team was unable to come all the way back from a seven-goal run by George Mason midway through the first half, falling to the Patriots by a score of 14-13 on Saturday afternoon in Fairfax, Va. Senior Grace Gaeng had a hat trick and three assists for HPU.
“We are extremely disappointed with this loss,” head coach Lyndsey Boswell said. “We came out strong and executed early, but we are having a tough time executing for 60 minutes right now. I still believe this team has what it takes to be great and we are going to continue fighting and working hard toward that. We are excited to get back home and start conference play.”
Juniors Alec Perry, Christie Dougherty and Mackenzie Carroll and sophomore Kendyl Gardner each scored twice in the contest with Perry and Carroll also chipping in with an assist. Perry tied for the team lead with two ground balls along with juniors Jasmine Jordan and Sara Kuhlman and freshman Emily Meier.
High Point jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first five minutes of action with goals by Meier, Kuhlman and Gardner. The Patriots got two quick goals to trim the HPU advantage to one before the Panthers came right back with two goals in just over 30 seconds from Dougherty and Gardner, making the score 5-2 with just over 20 minutes left in the half.
Up by three, High Point’s offense went silent as George Mason scored seven-straight goals over a 12-minute period to take a 9-5 lead with eight minutes remaining in the first half. The Panthers were outshot 10-4 during the GMU run.
Neither team was able to score of the next 6:30 until Carroll found the back of the net to break the Patriots’ streak with 1:31 left in the half. Dougherty then scored her second goal of the game with 17 second remaining to pull High Point back within two at 9-7 going into halftime.
Both teams traded goals over the first 15 minutes of the second half with Perry scoring twice and Gaeng scoring once for the Panthers. Each goal pulled HPU within one and was countered by a goal from GMU to extend the lead back to two.
The George Mason lead stood at 12-10 when the Patriots scored twice to make the score 14-10 with just under nine minutes remaining. The Panthers attempted to come back late as Gaeng scored twice and Carroll once in the final 6:36, but were unable to find the tying goal in the closing seconds.
HPU goalie Anna Wallingford made six saves and had a ground ball in the loss. Caroline Brouse made 11 saves for the Patriots. High Point outshot George Mason, 33-24, in the game and forced 11 GMU turnovers.
High Point drops to 2-6 on the season with the loss while George Mason improved to 5-4.
The Panthers return home this week to open Big South play with a four-game home stand beginning with Longwood on Wednesday, March 27 at 4 p.m. Following the game against the Lancers, HPU will host Coastal Carolina on April 1, Winthrop on April 5 and Liberty on April 7.