Site: Towson, MD. (Johnny Unitas Stadium)
Score: Towson 12, High Point 11 
Records: Towson (1-3, 0-0 CAA), HPU (1-3, 0-0 Big South) 
Next HPU Event: Saturday, Mar. 7 -- at No. 8 Florida (Donald R. Dizney), 12 p.m.
 
Towson, MD. -- The High Point University women's lacrosse team lost its first road game of the season at Johnny Unitas Stadium on Saturday (Feb. 29) afternoon, falling to Towson 12-11. Senior Ashley Britton finished with four goals, her second game of the season with four or more. 
 
Nicole Pugh opened up the scoring for High Point just three minutes into the game, spinning past her defender and slotting a shot in the bottom left corner. The Panthers continued to hold the ball in Towson's defensive end, eventually able to capitalize after a Rachel Foster free-position goal. The home side wouldn't be held off of the board for long, scoring at the 21:58 mark to cut High Point's lead to one. The teams' settled down and after much back and forth play in the midfield, HPU struck again. After causing a turnover and taking the ball the length of the field Meredith Chapman found Ashley Britton, who was able to beat Towson's goalkeeper from point blank range. 
 
With High Point holding a  3-1 lead midway through the first period the Tigers countered. Shelby Stack's free-position goal narrowly got past Sarah Zeto to put the score at 3-2. TU looked poised to score an equalizer, but Abbie Karalis was able to scoop up a ground ball and clear it to put the Panthers back on the offensive. After finding space, Britton was able to score a beauty through contact to give High Point a 4-2 lead. The Tigers would rally, ripping off three unanswered goals down the stretch of the first period to take a one goal lead. 
 
It wouldn't take long for HPU to get going coming out of the locker room. Nicole Pugh sparked a 3-0 run for High Point after slipping a shot past Towson' goalie thirty seconds into the period. Mena Loescher added a goal of her own at the 28:37 mark followed by Abby Hormes just twenty seconds later. 
 
Not to be outdone, Stack was able to stop the bleeding for the Tigers with her second goal of the game. This ignited a 6-0 Towson run, that saw the Panthers relinquish the lead and put the score at 11-7 with a little under twenty minutes left to go in the period.
 
The Panthers struggled to get into a groove offensively as Towson looked to ice the game with another goal, but a Zeto save denied the Tigers and sent HPU on the break. The Panthers worked the ball around and eventually earned a free-position shot that Hormes was able to convert to cut the TU lead to three. With momentum in their favor the Panthers struck again, this time it was Britton scoring off of a free-position shot at the 11:08 mark. The teams battled down to the wire with Britton scoring a goal with under thirty seconds left to bring HPU within one. Despite their efforts the Panthers were unable to find a goal in the closing moments. Head Coach Lyndsey Boswell had this to say after Saturday afternoon's contest.

"I'm really proud of the way our girls played today. We made some big plays at the end of the game but fell short. We're getting better each week and when we put a full game together we'll be in good shape. We look forward to the trip to Florida next weekend."

Up Next: High Point travels to Donald R. Dizney Stadium on Saturday (Mar. 7) to take on No. 8 Florida, for the second of a five game road trip