HPU WLAX Panthers Fall in Overtime in Hard Fought Battle Against Davidson

Site: High Point, N.C. (Vert Stadium)
Score: Davidson 15, High Point 14 (OT)
Records: Davidson (4-1), High Point (1-4)
Next HPU Event: March 7th, — at Vanderbilt at noon (Nashville, Tenn.)

High Point, N.C. – The High Point University women’s lacrosse team fell in overtime for the second-straight game, 15-14 to Davidson College on Wednesday (March 3). Graduate student Ashley Britton tied a career-high with five goals in the game while Rachel Foster and Abby Hormes each added three.

“I’m disappointed in the outcome today, especially after the loss at JMU,” Coach Lyndsey Boswell said. “We showed a lot of fight, resilience, and effort tonight but when it came down to it, our shot execution was extremely poor and that’s a lack of focus.

We stayed in the game by winning the draws, and that’s something I’m very proud of. At the end of the day, we have to find a way to win in tight situations and get back to the winning traditions in our program.”

Ashley Britton got the scoring started early for the Panthers, finding the back of the net just a minute and fifteen seconds into the contest for her 10th goal of the season. Davidson controlled the next draw and tied it up just seconds later before taking the 2-1 lead with 23:01 to play in the first. Hormes tied the game while picking up her 200th career point with 16:41 to play to send the game to its first media timeout. The career day for Hormes continued as the Fallston, Md. native now has 148 career goals after scoring three today, tying Erica Perrotta for the High Point career goals record.

The two teams then traded goals out of the break, Britton picking up her second of the afternoon on an equalizer. Davidson scored two unanswered to take a two-goal lead before Britton’s third and fourth goals of the half tied the game with just over a minute left in the first. The Wildcats did not sit back, responding with two unanswered goals in the final 60 seconds of the half to take a 7-5 lead into halftime. The Panthers won the turnover battle, forcing 13 as opposed to letting up 11.

Davidson started the second half the way they ended the first, scoring just twenty-five seconds in to stretch its lead to three. Mena Loescher scored the first second-half goal for the Panthers off a free position attempt for her third of the season and first since the season opener against Jacksonville. Rachel Foster got on the score sheet less than two minutes later to cut the deficit to one. High Point did not stop there, tying the game up in the same minute on a goal from Brielle Prouty to force a Davidson timeout.

The Wildcats came out of the timeout and took back the lead before Foster’s second of the day tied the game at the first media timeout of the half. The senior picked up her second multi-goal game in as many contests on Wednesday afternoon. After Davidson scored three unanswered, Kaely Kyle broke the nearly seven-minute scoring drought with her first score of the game to make it a 12-10 game.

Britton’s fifth goal of the game put High Point within one with just under 10 minutes left in the game. The back-and-forth continued as Davidson added another with Hormes responding just 29 seconds later off a free position shot to cut the Davidson lead back to one. Less than a minute later, Foster’s hat-trick goal evened the game up at 13 apiece.

The Panthers had a great chance to take the lead around the four-minute mark but consecutive saves from the Wildcats goalie kept the game tied. Sarah Zeto had an equally big save on the other end, fending off a Davidson-free position attempt. The senior goalie finished the day with eight saves, her second-most of the season.

After Davidson’s goalie made another impressive save, the Wildcats carried the ball the length of the field to score the go-ahead goal with just 27.3 seconds remaining on the clock. After a crucial draw control from Megan Nerney, the Panthers raced downfield and tied the game with only 6.7 seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime. The goal came as a pass from Kay Rosselli connected with Hormes who found the back of the net for the record-tying 148th goal of her career.

The first chance in overtime came from High Point as Kyle fired at the Davidson goalie, who came up with the save. The save turned out to be the difference as Davidson went the other way to win with a golden goal, taking the game 15-14.

UP NEXT: The Panthers will be back in action as they head to Nashville, Tenn. to take on Vanderbilt this weekend (March 7). The game is set for a noon start time on Saturday.