• Junior Samantha Brown tallied a career high five goals and matched her career best total of seven points (5g, 2a)
• Emily Meier (3g, 2a) and Allie Foard (4g) had strong offensive days for the Panthers
• HPU returns to action next Sunday (Feb. 28) with a home contest vs. No. 22 James Madison
BLACKSBURG, Va. – The High Point University women’s lacrosse team pushed Virginia Tech to the limit Sunday, but ultimately fell to the Hokies, 14-13, in overtime at Virginia Tech’s indoor practice facility.
The Panthers led 9-6 at the half and 11-6 five minutes into the second stanza, but the Hokies played excellent defense down the stretch in the second half and executed the game winning goal a minute into the overtime session.
“We came out strong at the draw in the first half and that’s something I wished we could’ve carried on during the remainder of the game,” head coach Lyndsey Boswell said. “I think that was where momentum was generated by Virginia Tech in the second half. But I thought our offensive possessions were strong. We took some risks and made some good decisions. Moving forward, this game will help us grow in the long term.”
High Point won nine of 16 draw controls in the first half, but Virginia Tech was +4 (8-4) in the second half and won the deciding draw in the overtime session.
Junior Samantha Brown led HPU with a career-high five goals and added a pair of assists to match her personal best point total (7). Senior Emily Meier added five points on three goals and two assists, while fellow senior Allie Foard notched four goals and picked up four ground balls on the day.
Sophomore Erica Perrotta registered three caused turnovers, three ground balls and a draw control to go along with an assist, while senior Kristina Renner grabbed a team-high four draw controls, tallied a goal and picked up three ground balls.
Freshman goaltender Victoria Lomangino made five saves in 66 minutes in the cage during her HPU debut.
The Panthers held a sizable advantage in ground balls (28-20) and was a perfect 10-for-10 on the clear. Shots were tied at 25-25, while Virginia Tech committed 13 turnovers to the Panthers’ 19.
The Hokies posted the first two goals of the game, but HPU got on the board at the 24:22 mark on a goal by Renner.
Renner’s score was part of a 3-0 run by the Purple & White that gave the Panthers a 3-2 advantage with 22:23 to go in the stanza.
After the Hokies tied it up at 3-3, back-to-back scores from Brown and Foard gave the Panthers a two-goal cushion (5-3) at the 12:53 mark. Brown and Meier notched scores within 14 seconds of each other to extend the Panther lead to three (7-4), and Foard registered a pair of scores late in the first half to give the Panthers a four-goal edge (9-5) with 52 seconds left in the half.
The Purple & White took a 9-6 lead into the break.
Brown notched a pair of goals to open the second half and extend the Panther lead to five (11-6) at the 25:55 mark of period. But over the next 12 minutes, the Hokies tallied five unanswered goals to knot the score at 11 with 13:44 remaining.
Meier posted an acrobatic goal to put HPU back up one (12-11) and Brown posted her fifth score off the free position to increase the lead to two (13-11) with 7:47 to play.
The Hokies posted two goals in 16 seconds to tie the score at 13 with 6:29 left. It appeared Virginia Tech scored with 17 seconds left in regulation, but the goal was waved off and the game went to overtime.
The Hokies scored the game winner exactly one minute into the overtime session to escape with the victory.
The Panthers return to action next Sunday (Feb. 28) with a home contest against No. 22 James Madison. First draw is scheduled for 3 p.m. inside Vert Stadium.