• Freshman Samantha Herman posted career highs in goals (3), ground balls (4) and caused turnovers (3)
• Senior Emily Meier posted her 100th career point and finished with a goal and three assists
• HPU forced a season-high 16 turnovers, including five critical stops in the final 15 minutes
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University women’s lacrosse team (2-2) executed with precision and composure down the stretch Wednesday night to power past Villanova, 10-9, inside Vert Stadium.
The Panthers trailed 9-7 midway through the second half, but HPU held the Wildcats scoreless over the final 17:43 and posted the final three goals of the game to claim the team’s second-straight victory.
“We executed extremely well at the end of the game,” head coach Lyndsey Boswell said. “I was disappointed with how we started the game slowly, but the girls came back and gained momentum in the second half. We received outstanding effort from our defenders late in the game and I’m extremely happy with how our freshmen are playing and contributing for our program.”
The Panthers held large advantages in shots (24-15) and ground balls (24-14) and caused an impressive 16 turnovers. The 16 CTs were the most by the Panthers since HPU tallied 17 vs. Presbyterian on April 6, 2015.
Freshman midfielder Samantha Herman put together a breakout game of sorts for the Purple & White during an outstanding all-around effort. The Abingdon, Md., native tallied her first career hat trick while adding career highs in ground balls (4) and caused turnovers (3).
Senior Emily Meier led the Panthers in points (4) while posting a career best three assists on the night. With her goal in the first half, the Sayville, N.Y., native became the eighth player in program history to reach the 100-point plateau for her career.
Senior Kristina Renner added two goals and two draw controls and junior Samantha Brown posted three points (1g, 2a) while causing two turnovers for the Purple & White.
Defensively, freshman Hayley Norris put together another excellent effort with three caused turnovers and a career-best four ground balls, while junior Christina Del Sesto added a pair of key caused turnovers.
Freshman goalkeeper Molly Andrews made five saves on 15 shots and played a full 60 minutes in the cage.
Villanova (1-3) started the game with gusto, jumping out to a 3-0 advantage at the 24:07 mark of the opening half. A goal from Renner cut the lead to two (3-1), but the Wildcats answered right back to lead 4-1 at the 19:47 mark.
From there, the Panthers began to mount a first half comeback. Meier’s 100th point came on a goal off the free position (4-2, 17:24), then, back-to-back scores from Brown and Renner tied the score (4-4) with 1:26 to go in the half.
The Wildcats posted a goal with 19 seconds left in the period to take a 5-4 lead into the break.
The Purple & White took their first lead of the game four minutes into the second half (7-6) on the strength of back-to-back scores from sophomore Erica Perrotta and senior Allie Foard.
The scoring went back and forth from there, as Villanova tied it up at 6-6, then HPU re-took the lead at 7-6 on a Herman goal at the 22:51 mark.
The Wildcats surged ahead after putting together a 3-0 run that gave VU a 9-7 edge with 17:44 to go.
But from there, the Panthers took control. Freshman Emory Gaeng forced a turnover at the 14:47 mark that led to a Herman goal off a great feed from Meier (9-8). Then, Norris caused yet another Wildcat turnover on the ensuing possession, and Leah Pace took advantage with her first goal of the game. The goal tied it at 9-9 with 11:25 to go.
With 7:32 left, Brown continued the Panthers’ precise pattern of defensive play, causing another VU turnover that led to Herman’s third goal and an HPU lead (10-9, 6:27).
Villanova won the ensuing draw control, but Olivia Nostrant posted HPU’s fourth caused turnover in the eight-minute stretch to give HPU the ball with 4:06 to go. Villanova re-took possession, but caused turnover No. 5, this time by Herman, gave the Panthers the ball with 1:05 left, and Villanova could not score for the remainder of the game.
With the victory, HPU improves to 2-1 all-time against the Wildcats.
High Point will take a spring break trek to the Pacific Northwest next week to continue the 2016 season. The Panthers head to Eugene to battle the Oregon Ducks (2-1) on Monday (Mar. 7) at 8 p.m. (ET).