RADFORD, Va. — The High Point University women's lacrosse team wrapped up the regular season in dominate fashion, defeating Big South Conference opponent Radford on Wednesday afternoon, 25-7. With the win and Furman's win over Mercer, the Panthers have clinched a share of the Big South Regular-Season Championship for their seventh and 13th total title.
High Point had seven players with two or more goals as
Allie Connally led the way with five goals and a career-high 11 draw controls.
Shannon Smith,
Bella Germani and
Esprit Cha all scored four goals each, while
Mandy Brockamp netted a hat trick and
Reese Dowgiallo had a team-high five assists.
Lily Trout and
Kierstin Hillis contributed two goals apiece.
Goalie
Ava Welsh hit the 200 career save milestone in the second quarter as the sophomore needed only two saves to reach the feat.
SITE: SORC Stadium
SCORE: High Point 25, Radford 7
RECORDS: High Point (11-5, 7-1), Radford (2-13, 0-7)
Head Coach Lyndsey Boswell: "I'm so excited for these girls. I think we've seen a lot of growth in our team throughout the whole year, but particularly in the month of April. They love each other so much and at this point, we're playing to continue this season for as long as we can."
The Panthers ripped off an 10-2 first quarter run as Connally began her impressive day with back-to-back goals to take a lead HPU would never lose. The senior attacker had a hat trick in the first 10 minutes; meanwhile, Trout netted her two goals, Cha scored a pair and Germani and Smith found their firsts.
The draw unit was unstoppable all day, winning 21 to Radford's 13, with Connally leading the way with her career-high 11.
Gracie Vickery took a majority of draws as she won three alike
Mandy Brockamp while
Lauren Pujolar scooped up two in the fourth.
"Allie works so hard and her work in the draw unit is paying off for us," Boswell said. "I would say Gracie too because Allie doesn't get those draws without Gracie sending them to her, so the commitment that they've made the past couple of weeks to improve themselves, and Mandy too, it's a solid three-woman unit. Allie definitely stepped up today."
HPU took a 17-4 lead into halftime after a seven-goal second quarter and Welsh's two kick saves — the second one being her 200th —limited the Highlanders to only two scores.
"The sky's the limit for that girl," Boswell said of Welsh. "I think she hasn't even come close to reaching her potential, and I believe she's the best goalie in the conference. I'm really excited to also see her continue to grow and improve. She's her biggest critic so gaining confidence throughout the season has been big for her. I'm really proud of her."
Smith netted a hat trick alone in the second quarter as Connally, Cha, Germani, and
Kate Prentice were responsible for the other goals.
To begin the third quarter,
Joy Coffey relieved Welsh in the cage to split the halves. Germani picked up where the offense left off, netting the first goal of the final 30 minutes.
Brockamp picked up her hat trick with a goal in the third and fourth quarter apiece, while Hillis netted her first multi-score game this season with the final two goals.
Up Next: The Panthers will head to the Big South Conference Championships on May 2 and 4.The location and time are still being determined due to the current three-way tie for first place. Mercer and Furman, who are tied with High Point, each have a game this upcoming Saturday to finish the regular-season slate.
#GoHPU
