MACON, Ga. — The Panthers are championship bound.
In a back-and-forth Big South Conference semifinal game, the second-seeded High Point University women's lacrosse team prevailed, outscoring third-seeded Furman University 10-4 in the second half for the 19-14 victory and a spot in the championship game.
It marks the ninth time in 11 seasons that High Point is in the title game with a matchup set with top-seeded Mercer University Sunday at noon. The Panthers will be playing for their seventh Big South Tournament championship and 13th overall.
SITE: Five Star Stadium
SCORE: High Point 19, Furman 14
RECORDS: High Point (12-5), Furman (8-10)
Head Coach Lyndsey Boswell: "Not much went as planned tonight, but I'm proud of the fight and the grit that my team showed. I liked the way we came out to start the game; We found some really great connections early. Furman is a great team with a lot of great players — they clearly didn't want their season to end, and they gave everything they had.
"We talked at halftime about some adjustments and the execution in that third quarter was exciting. We had some individuals really step up for us, especially off the bench and they were huge for us.
Tatum Mehring,
Gracie Vickery,
Reese Dowgiallo, and
Ava Welsh all stepped in and did their job. I can't say enough about the whole team effort and the fight that they have with each other right now. I'm looking forward to taking them into a championship day Sunday."
Coach Boswell has been in these championship moments before, so when Furman made a push to take the lead just before half, the seven-time Big South Coach of the Year knew exactly how to approach it.
Needless to say, the half-time speech lit a fire under the Panthers.
Esprit Cha and
Mandy Brockamp, who each had four goals in the semis, scored in back-to-back possessions to begin the third quarter to go up 11-10. It was a short-lived lead as Furman netted three straight goals, but it was the final advantage the Paladins would have.
The Panthers ripped off an 8-1 run, including a 7-0 spurt, that saw
Allie Connally and
Kay Rosselli join the scoring. Connally was a game-changer in the second half with a pair of goals while winning a career-high 10 draw controls.
Shannon Smith was stellar, scoring two of her three goals — plus an assist — to add onto the HPU lead as the fourth quarter began. The sophomore's third to secure a hat trick was as the shot clock sounded that saw the attacker bully her way through defenders and score.
Smith's no-quit attitude jumpstarted the fourth as
Jordan Miles secured yet another four-goal game with two scores. Meanwhile, the defense limited the Paladins to just one fourth-quarter goal as
Ava Welsh locked down the cage in the second half and
Tatum Mehring came off the bench to make an impact defensively.
Brockamp matched her career-high four goals as she netted a first-half hat trick, while Cha registered her second career six-point game.
Aryss Lindsey caused two turnovers while
Joy Coffey had two saves and Welsh had three.
#GoHPU
