HIGH POINT, N.C. – The Panthers begin Big South Conference play this Wednesday against the Winthrop Eagles. High Point is coming off of a tough loss to a tough No. 3-ranked North Carolina team. Winthrop lost their last matchup to Liberty, 22-7. The 2022 season ended with High Point on top in the Big South, holding a conference record of 8-1, while the Eagles ended the year sixth in the conference going 3-6 in Big South play.  

GAME INFORMATION
High Point vs. Winthrop | Wednesday, March 29th | 5:00 P.M. | Vert Stadium
LIVE STATS | WATCH | GAME NOTES 

Last Time Out
High Point traveled to Chapel Hill last Thursday to take on the nationally-ranked Tar Heels. Sophomore attacker Jordan Miles began the scoring for the Panthers with a sweet behind-the-back goal and scored another goal late in the contest. Loescher also netted two goals, making it the fifth multi-score game for the graduate attacker and Miles' fourth multi-score game. Emma Nowakowski dished out an assist to add to her point total as well. The Tar Heels near-perfect execution was too much for the Panthers Thursday, but Coach Lyndsey Boswell remains hopeful for the team as they enter Big South play.   

About the Eagles
The Eagles are 3-4 so far this season and this will be their first in-conference matchup. Junior attacker Claire Witmer leads the team with 18 points off of 12 goals and six assists. Junior midfielder Grayson McKenzie stands just behind Witmer with 16 points off of 15 goals and an assist. At the start of the season, freshman attacker Scarlet Cifarelli was named Big South Freshman of the Week after combining for two goals, four assists, three ground balls, and one caused turnover in the first two games of her collegiate career. Kara Concheck is in her first year as head coach for the Eagles. Prior to her coaching career, Concheck spent four years playing lacrosse at Fresno State, where she broke the all-time scoring record and was named Offensive Player of the Year in 2014.  

Match-up History 
High Point and Winthrop have faced off 15 times previously going into Wednesday, with the Panthers holding the winning end of the record (12-3). The Panthers are undefeated at home against the Eagles and have not lost a game in the series since the 2016 season. Their most recent game came last April, with the Panthers tallying a dominant 23-2 win. Loescher led with an astounding seven goals in the win. Pia Cavallaro, Paige Harms, Kay Rosselli, and Mandy Brockamp all also contributed points. 

Panther Notes

Players To Watch
Graduate attacker Mena Loescher is also on the prowl for 200 career points. After crushing her 100-goal milestone, Mena has now tallied 193 points in the purple and white, leads the conference in points per game and assists per game and is ranked 25th nationally in points per game. Sophomore attacker Jordan Miles is off to a hot start, contributing points in six out of the seven games so far this season. Miles made her 2023 debut with two goals against Davidson and then netted three goals against nationally-ranked JMU. Miles posted two goals against nationally-ranked UNC, including a beautiful behind-the-back goal to start the Panther scoring last Thursday. The sophomore attacker is now third in points on the team with 11. Sophomore defender Caitlyn Baehr is also off to a great start to the season, picking up at least one ground ball in all seven 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. 

Suplee Hits Career-Mark 200 Saves 
Redshirt senior Taylor Suplee hit a big milestone in the Panther's game against Elon Wednesday, March 15th. After tying her season-high ten 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. 

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.

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 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.