HIGH POINT, N.C. – High Point University women's lacrosse returns to Vert this Wednesday, March 15th, to face the Elon University Phoenix. This will be the Panthers first mid-week matchup of the year and the eighth time throughout history that HPU has faced Elon . 

GAME INFORMATION
High Point vs. Elon Wednesday, March 15th | 5:00 P.M. | Vert Stadium
LIVE STATS | WATCH | GAME NOTES 

Last Time Out
High Point played two tough teams on its travels out west last week. The Panthers fell to nationally-ranked University of Southern California before losing another hard battle against San Diego State. Against USC, Mena Loescher led the way with three goals and sophomore attack Jordan Miles added two. Sophomore midfielder Mandy Brockamp tallied her first goal of the season as well. HPU outscored the Trojans 5-3 in the second half, but the Panther's efforts fell just short as USC took the win, 14-6. Loescher was the leading scorer against San Diego State with another hat trick, followed by Kay Rosselli, who netted two goals in the loss. Ava Scudillo had a stellar defensive effort with three caused turnovers. Senior goalkeeper Sadie Coachman saw her first minutes of the season replacing Taylor Suplee and making five stops for the Panthers. Despite the solid defensive push, SDSU came out victorious, taking the contest 17-9. 

About the Phoenix 
Elon has posted a 3-5 record so far this season, losing a close matchup against East Carolina University Sunday, 16-11. The Phoenix have faced tough opponents such as No. 10 Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Old Dominion in the 2023 season. Their three wins have come against Queens University, George Mason, and Coastal Carolina. Sophomore attack Cierra Hopsin ranks first in points on the team, accumulating 28 points — 19 goals and nine assists— in Elon's eight games. Junior defender Kailee Follette was named to the CAA Preseason All-Conference Honorable Mention Team prior to the start of the season. This is Josh Hexter's 10th season as head coach for the Phoenix. Hexter has been the only women's lacrosse head coach at Elon. In 2017, Hexter led the Phoenix to their first ever NCAA tournament appearance after defeating Towson in the CAA Conference Championship. 

Match-up History 
High Point has defeated Elon four times and only lost three games in all of their matchups. The Panthers had a dominant performance against the Phoenix last season, coming out victorious with a score of 19-10. Loescher, Brockamp, and Genovese all tallied hat tricks in the win and Suplee made eight saves. HPU has not lost to Elon since the 2017 season. 

Panther Notes

Players To Watch
Redshirt senior goalkeeper Taylor Suplee is only six saves away from 200 going into Wednesday's game. Suplee has accumulated 36 saves already this season with a season-high 10 against JMU. Last spring, Suplee started all 19 contests for the Panthers and denied 158 shots. Graduate attacker Mena Loescher is also on the prowl for 200 career points. After crushing her 100-goal milestone, Mena has now tallied 186 points in the purple and white, leads the conference in points per game and is ranked ninth nationally in points per game. Sophomore attacker Jordan Miles is off to a hot start, contributing points in four out of the five games so far this season. Miles made her 2023 debut with two goals against Davidson and then netted three goals against nationally-ranked JMU. The sophomore attacker is now fourth in points on the team with eight. Sophomore defender Caitlyn Baehr is also off to a great start to the season, picking up at least one ground ball in all five games. Baehr picked up four ground balls and caused three turnovers to help lead the Panthers to their first win of the season against Mount St. Mary's on February 18th and picked up three ground balls with two caused turnovers against No. 12 James Madison. Midfielder Mandy Brockamp scored her first of the season to tie the game against USC on Friday, March 3rd. Brockamp also posted six total draw controls and another goal in the two games against USC and SDSU. The sophomore was a huge contributor in the 2022 season, earning Big South Freshman of the Year honors following her 18 goals, two assists, and nine draw controls. 

Scudillo With Stellar Defensive Effort 
In the Panthers' trip out west, senior defender Ava Scudillo accumulated six caused turnovers and picked up three groundballs in the two games. In HPU's matchup against USC, Scudillo tallied a season-high three caused turnovers and continued the performance tallying three more caused turnovers against SDSU. The senior defender now has eight caused turnovers on the season and has picked up seven groundballs. 

Milestone Mena
With seven minutes left in the second quarter against JMU, Mena Loescher netted a goal that not only knotted the score at four, but also marked her 100th career goal at High Point. Loescher's teammates celebrated as she flipped in a shot back-handed to reach her milestone in the most fashionable way. Loescher leads the conference in assists per game (2.67) and is ranked tenth in the nation for assists. She is also second in points per game in the Big South behind Campbell's Sam Bischoff. 

Miles Secures First Career Hat Trick 
Jordan Miles had a career day for herself, netting a career-high three goals. Miles scored back-to-back goals in the first half to respond to three JMU goals and keep the pressure on offensively. She netted her third goal with ten minutes left in the third quarter to keep High Point within range of the Dukes. Miles has now started and played in all three games for the Panthers as a sophomore. 

Career Day for Genovese
Emma Genovese was on fire Saturday with four goals, five draw controls, two ground balls and one caused turnover. Her four goals set a career-high for the Graduate midfielder and helped lead the Panthers to their first win of the season. Genovese's previously held career-high was three goals in the 2022 season against Elon and Wofford. 

Shannon Smith Makes Her Scoring Debut 
Freshman attack Shannon Smith scored her first career goal for the Purple and White on Saturday against Mount St. Mary's, off a cross-cage assist from Emma Nowakowski. Smith also picked up two ground balls and has been one of the only freshmen to appear in both games for the Panthers.

Loescher Ranked Nationally and In-Conference for Beginning 2023 Performance 
Mena Loescher tallied nine points off of five goals and four assists in her season-opening game against Davidson. In the Panthers second game against Mount St. Mary's Saturday, Loescher opened the contest with two back-to-back goals, picked up two ground balls, two draw-controls and dished out an assist. She has not only made a significant impact in both games for High Point, but she is having her name heard across the conference and nationally. After two games, Loescher is tied for 24th in the nation in assists per game. The Preseason Offensive Player of the Year is also second in points per game, third in goals per game, and fourth in assists per game in the Big South Conference. 

Loescher Starts the Season Off With a Bang
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, Mena Loescher lived up to her title with quite the performance in her season-opener Saturday, February 11th. The Graduate attack posted a whopping nine points off of five goals and four assists against the Wildcats of Davidson. Loescher had a hat-trick in just the first quarter and scored all five of her goals unassisted. 

Miles Starts Off Strong
Sophomore attack Jordan Miles opened up her year with the first goal of the 2023 season for the Panthers. Miles scored within the first five minutes off an assist from Loescher. She scored her second goal of the contest unassisted in the second quarter to knot the game at seven. 

Rosselli Adds Three Points for the Panthers
Junior midfielder Kay Rosselli ended her 2023 debut second in points on the day, with two goals and an assist. Rosselli scored her first of the game off an assist from Loescher, just seconds after Miles' first goal of the season. She scored her second goal, unassisted, to tie the score at eight just before the halftime break. 
Although the single-season points record-holder Abby Hormes will be talked about as a huge loss for the Panthers this year, they return a strong core group both offensively and on the defensive end. Graduate Attack Mena Loescher tallied an astounding 46 goals and 30 assists, while Junior Midfielder Kay Rosselli added 31 goals with her 20 assists. Loescher made a huge impact against #1 ranked UNC tallying a goal and three assists. Rosselli netted three goals and had an assist against the 6th team in the nation, Duke, early in the 2022 season. 

The Panthers also return 1st-Team All Big-South Midfielder Emma Genovese and 1st-Team All Big-South Goalkeeper Taylor Suplee. Genovese was a dominant force for HPU in the 2022 season contributing 13 goals, 14 assists, and 47 draw controls. Suplee held it down on the other end with 158 saves. Suplee had a season-high 16 saves in the Panther's 17-12 win over Mercer on April 23rd. Genovese had three goals in High Point's first win of the 2022 season against Elon. 

Loescher, Genovese, and Suplee Earn Preseason Accolades
Graduate attack Mena Loescher, Graduate Midfield Emma Genovese, and Redshirt-Senior Goalkeeper Taylor Suplee were named to the Preseason All- Conference team. This is the first Preseason All-Conference accolade for all three players. Coming off a 46-goal and 36-assist season in 2022, Loescher was named the Big South Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. 

Panthers Tabbed Second in Preseason Poll
High Point was voted second in the conference in the 2023 Big South Conference Preseason Women's Lacrosse Poll. The Panthers first-place votes fell just short of the Mercer Bears, who were crowned the Big South Conference Tournament Champions last spring.