HIGH POINT, N.C. – High Point University women's lacrosse makes a quick trip east on Thursday to take on the No. 3 University of North Carolina Tar Heels. The Panthers are coming off of a one-goal loss to Elon University and the Tar Heels are fresh off of their first loss of the season against now-No. 2 Northwestern. 

GAME INFORMATION
High Point at University of North Carolina | Thursday, March 23rd | 6:00 P.M. | Dorrance Field 
LIVE STATS | WATCH | GAME NOTES 

Last Time Out
It was quite the battle last Wednesday night, as the Panthers fell just short to the Elon Phoenix in the closing seconds of the match. It was the fourth consecutive game that Mena Loescher led the team in points, with three assists and a goal. Kristen Kucia and Shannon Smith also registered their first starts of the season in the Purple and White. A season-high seven players contributed goals in the contest. Along with Loescher, Mandy Brockamp, Jordan Miles, Pia Cavallaro, Grace Bruce, Emma Genovese, and Kay Rosselli all placed tallies in the scoring column. It was a very back-and-forth matchup, with the scoring deficit staying within three throughout the entire 60-minute duration. It was a heartbreaker ending as the Phoenix netted a free-position goal with just 12 seconds to play to secure the win. 
 

Spin move + stick toss from ?? !! #GoHPU pic.twitter.com/vFNUwyY593

— HPU Women's Lacrosse (@hpuwlax) March 15, 2023

About the Tar Heels
UNC is 7-1 so far this season, with their one loss coming this past Sunday against No. 2 Northwestern. The Tar Heels have an elite strength of schedule with wins already this year against top teams such as James Madison University, the University of Florida, Boston College, and the University of Virginia. They were ranked No.1 going into the 2023 season after placing a historic 22-0 record in 2022, and crowning themselves national champions for the third time. Seven Tar Heels were named to the Preseason All-America Team — the most in Division I women's lacrosse this year. Redshirt sophomore attacker Reilly Casey leads the team in points with 36, followed by Junior attacker Caitlyn Wurzburger who has recorded 30 points this season. Casey ranks 13th in the nation in assists. Sophomore goalkeeper Alecia Nicholas has stopped 74 shots and currently holds a .54 save percentage, ranking in the top 50 nationally for saves and saves per game. Jenny Levy is in her 28th season as head coach. Levy ranks third overall in Division I wins, has three national championships, and is a three-time National Coach of the Year. In 27 seasons, Levy has accumulated 395 wins and in 2021, she was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame. 

Match-up History 
The Tar Heels and Panthers have gone head-to-head ten times previously. UNC has won all 10 matches, with the closest game in 2018, as the Panthers fell by just four goals. In the most recent matchup, High Point lost 23-9 at Vert Stadium on the exact same date last year. Loescher, Cavallaro, and Rosselli all recorded a goal in the game. Taylor Suplee also had nine saves. 

Panther Notes

Players To Watch
Graduate attacker Mena Loescher is on the prowl for 200 career points. After crushing her 100-goal milestone, Mena has now tallied 190 points in the Purple and White, leads the conference in points per game and is ranked 22nd nationally in points per game. Sophomore attacker Jordan Miles is off to a hot start, contributing points in five out of the six 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 six 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. The Panthers' defense is on the watch in the conference with High Point leading the Big South in ground balls per game (22.67) and ranking third in caused turnovers per game (10.83). Baehr, Scudillo, and Genovese lead the team with nine caused turnovers so far this season. Suplee stays at the top for ground ball pickups with 20. Pia Cavallaro and Kay Rosselli have had high-level performances for High Point on the offensive end. Cavallaro had a stunning behind-the-back ripper in the Panthers game against the Phoenix Wednesday to put her at four points on the season. The junior attacker has also picked up 10 ground balls thus far and has caused six turnovers. Rosselli is an under-the-radar threat, ranking third in points with seven goals and three assists. She also tops the list for draw controls with 15. 
 

PIA??

1??7?? with the behind-the-back goal to put the Panthers within 1?? ??#GoHPU x #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/YNPtlJh04X

— HPU Women's Lacrosse (@hpuwlax) March 15, 2023

Suplee Hits Career-Mark 200 Saves 
Redshirt senior Taylor Suplee hit a big milestone in the Panthers' game against Elon. After tying her season-high 10 saves, she surpassed 200 career-saves in under two years at High Point. She is now just 15 saves away from moving up to fourth best all-time in total saves in the history of the program. 
 

2??0??0?? saves ??

Last night, Taylor Suplee surpassed the 200-save milestone at HPU! She's fifth all-time with 204 saves in 25 starts?? #GoHPU x #HPUWLAX pic.twitter.com/UDF86XE5Nf

— HPU Women's Lacrosse (@hpuwlax) March 16, 2023

Smith and Kucia Make First Start of the Year
Freshman attacker Shannon Smith and senior defender Kristen Kucia made their first starts of the year against Elon. Kucia was a huge threat on the defensive end with a career-high two caused turnovers for the Panthers. Smith picked up one ground ball and secured a draw-control as well. As a freshman, Smith has seen action in all six games.
 

KK with the pressure + Caitlyn with the INT ????#GoHPU ?? pic.twitter.com/0eTiKvxOcy

— HPU Women's Lacrosse (@hpuwlax) March 15, 2023

Scudillo With Stellar Defensive Effort 
In the Panthers' trip out west, senior defender Ava Scudillo accumulated six caused turnovers and picked up three ground balls 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 ground balls. 

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 points per game and is ranked in the top-40 nationally for assists. 

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 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.