WHEN: Thursday, May 3 | 8:00 p.m.
WHERE: Robins Stadium | Richmond, Va.
RECORDS: High Point (6-7, 6-1), Jacksonville (7-6, 5-2)
SERIES RECORD: High Point leads 6-1
LAST MEETING: High Point won 11-9  at HPU on March 31, 2018
VIDEO: SoCon Digital Network
LIVE STATS: RichmondSpiders.Com
GAME NOTES: HighPointPanthers.Com

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men's lacrosse team begins its postseason riding a five-game winning streak into its Southern Conference semifinal meeting with No. 3 seed Jacksonville on Thursday at 8:00 p.m. at Richmond, Va.
 
The Panthers (6-7, 6-1) jumped out to a 5-0 lead on Mercer in the regular season finale on Saturday before cruising to a 13-7 win to lock up a share of the SoCon title. Meanwhile, the Dolphins (7-6, 5-2) closed their regular season with a 14-5 victory over VMI.
 
Quick Hitters
• Freshman Asher Nolting (30g, 34a) is the first player in SoCon history to record a 30-30 campaign. He is one of nine players nationally to achieve the feat so far this season.
 
• Nolting is averaging 4.92 points and 2.62 assists per contest this spring. Both of those marks would be HPU and SoCon single-season records.
 
• Senior Connor Robinson and Nolting rank first and second in the SoCon, respectively, in goals per game. The HPU duo, which has combined for 62 goals this season, is the only set of teammates to provide the top-two goal scoring marks in any conference nationally.
 
• During the squad's five-game winning streak, the defense has limited opponents to 7.20 goals per game as junior Tim Troutner Jr. has registered a .642 save percentage allowing just 29 goals in 257 minutes in the run.
 
• In the month of April sophomore Davis Sampere posted an incredible .708 face-off winning percentage (51-of-72). Along with the face-off dominance he scored four points and picked up 7.0 ground balls per contest.
 
• Nolting is the first player in SoCon history to claim both the Offensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year awards. Joining him on the postseason awards list, Troutner and Robinson are All-SoCon Second Team members.
 
• Offensive balance has been a key for HPU this season. In the team's seven losses the starting attackmen accounted for 65 percent of the team's goals, but just 45 percent in the squad's six victories this spring.
 
• The Panthers' defense allowed opponents to score on 15-of-34 (44 percent) EMOs through the first seven games of the year. Since then, HPU has allowed just two goals in the last 18 EMOs including Jacksonville going 1-of-4.
 
• High Point leads the SoCon with an average margin of victory of 4.42 goals per game against league foes.
 
• The Purple & White are the only team in the 2018 field to win a Southern Conference title. Richmond, the runner-up each of the past three seasons, won the A-Sun title in 2014.
 
• The five-game winning streak is tied for the second-longest stretch in program history. With a win, the Panthers can tie the program's longest winning streak set by the 2014 squad from Feb. 16 to March 15.
 
• The Panthers have scored in double figures 10 times in 2018, which is one fewer than the 2016 squad. The team's 11.38 goal-scoring average in the best in HPU history.
 
• High Point joins North Carolina as the only two teams in Division I lacrosse to post both a five-game winning streak and a five-game losing streak this spring.
 
Preseason to Postseason
HPU was picked to finish fifth by the league's coaches in the preseason poll, but finished the regular season tied with Richmond atop the league standings. Jacksonville, on the other hand, was picked second but came in third.
 
Record Watch
• With 64 points this season, Nolting is one point away from breaking Air Force's Chris Walsch single-season SoCon points record.
 
• Nolting's 34 assists are the most in a season by a SoCon player, but are two shy of Matt Thistle's HPU record.
 
• After racking up 28 ground balls in the last four outings, Sampere needs 15 to tie Jamie Piluso for the HPU single-season record (95).
 
SoCon Championship Outlook
The Panthers went 2-1 against their potential SoCon opponents in three consecutive games through the middle of conference play. HPU fell at Richmond 15-12 before beating Jacksonville 11-9 at home and Furman by a 15-7 mark in Greenville, S.C.
 
HPU's Postseason History
HPU is 3-4 in postseason action going 1-1 in the A-Sun Tournament, 2-2 in the SoCon Championship and 0-1 in NCAA Tournament play. The Panthers, which won the 2015 SoCon title, have advanced to the conference tournament every year they were eligible except 2017.
 
All-Time Series with Jacksonville
The Dolphins won the first meeting between the two programs in 2013, but HPU has claimed the last six contests in the series including a 12-11 win in the 2014 Atlantic Sun semifinals.
 
Last Time They Met
The Panthers jumped out to a 3-0 lead and held a five-goal edge midway through the second quarter before holding on for an 11-9 win. Nolting posted five points in the win while freshman Koby Russell had a hat trick.
 
Next Up
The winner of Thursday night's matchup will play the winner of No. 1 Richmond and No. 4 Furman, which will be played at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.
 
#GoHPU