BOX SCORE

The High Point University women's lacrosse team held off Davidson for a 13-10 win and improved to 12-3 overall and 6-1 in the National Lacrosse Conference on Saturday in Davidson, N.C. In their inaugural season, the Panthers finished second in the NLC standings and earned the No. 2 seed into the NLC Tournament April 29-May 1.

“I'm so happy to end our conference regular season with a win against a very good team,” said HPU head coach Lyndsey Boswell. “Davidson fought hard throughout the game, but we made the key plays at the end of the game. We have a lot of time to get back on the practice field and prepare for the conference tournament. We're looking forward to seeing what we can do with a second-place seed.”

Sophomore Grace Gaeng led High Point with four goals, the seventh time she led the Panthers in scoring this season. Freshman Mackenzie Carroll and junior Alexis Goldman scored two goals each and freshman Sara Kuhlman had a goal and three assists. Defensively, sophomore Courtney McLaughlin had four ground balls and two draw controls and freshman Jasmine Jordan had three ground balls along with a goal. Goalie Lauren Hayes made two saves.

Davidson's Ann Fucigna was the game's leader with five goals and two assists. Erin Keitel and Alanna Parker scored two goals each for the Wildcats and Erin Dougherty had a goal, an assist and six draw controls. Davidson goalie Jessica Melby made four saves. The Wildcats fell to 4-10 overall and 3-3 in the NLC with the loss.

The Panthers charged out to an 8-1 lead before Davidson made a furious comeback. Carroll, Goldman, Alec Perry and Gaeng scored the first four goals of the game before Davidson's Keitel got the Wildcats on the board. The Panthers were back at it for four scores, including two more by Gaeng, to take an 8-1 lead with 8:57 left in the first half.

Fucigna scored her first goal of the game with 5:54 left in the first half, igniting a 7-1 Davidson run that got the Wildcats within a goal of the Panthers. Doherty and Parker added scores before the first half was over, and Fucigna scored the first two of the second half.

Leading just 9-8 late in the game, Carroll, Gaeng and Christie Dougherty scored within a span of two minutes to keep the Panthers ahead for good. In the final 10 minutes, Keitel and Fucigna scored for the Wildcats and Jordan netted a goal for HPU.

The Panthers lost just one NLC game this season, a 17-10 loss to Jacksonville in Jacksonville, Fla., on March 25. The Dolphins beat Presbyterian on Saturday to finish the regular season with a 7-0 NLC record and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.

High Point will take a 12-day break before playing in its first NLC Tournament in Davidson, N.C. The quarterfinals start April 29 followed by the semifinals and championship the next two days.