HIGH POINT N.C. — The High Point University women's lacrosse took the field at Vert Stadium for the team's second Big South Conference game against the Mercer University Bears Saturday afternoon. The Panthers fell short to the Bears,10-6.
High Point was led by Mairin Kelly and Eva Thorn, who both found the back of the net twice. Both Kelly's goals are the first tallies of her career, while Thorn finished with the first multi-goal game of her collegiate career. Captain goalkeeper Ava Welsh returned to the cage and made 10 saves at a 50 percent rate as she also scooped up six ground balls and caused two turnovers.
SITE: Vert Stadium
SCORE: High Point 6, Mercer 10
RECORDS: High Point (1-8, 1-1), Mercer (4-6, 1-0)
Head Coach Lyndsey Boswell: "Mercer's a great team and they always give us their best. They crushed us on the draw circle, limiting opportunities on offense, and I felt like that was a big shift for us with the momentum that we weren't able to get back. I felt like we worked out the kinks against Winthrop, and we saw some success there, so we were feeling prepared going into today, but we just weren't able to execute the game plan. I'm not thrilled with the outcome today, of course we want to get the win, but I think this is another learning opportunity for us. This team is tough, strong, and they stick together, and I feel really great about conference play moving forward. If we can peak, really peak in all areas at the right time, I feel like this is a championship-level team."
Mercer opened the door first with a goal to start the game, but the Panthers quickly responded as Shannon Smith found Anna Checkosky to tie the game at one. Tatum Goettelmann responded after a Mercer goal with a score of her own.
The Panthers' next goal came in the third quarter as Kelly scored the first goal of her career, a woman-up score, to make it 6-3. High Point saw three goals in the final nine minutes as Kelly scored her second goal of the game, once again woman-up, to cut into the lead. Thorn then scored her two goals back-to-back, with the second off a pass from Kate Prentice, to cap the Panthers' scoring.
High Point forced 17 Mercer turnovers and recovered 19 total ground balls. Captain defender Caitlyn Baehr recovered three ground balls and caused two turnovers, while Lily Trout, Julia Dustin, and Lauren Pujolar each finished with two ground balls. Dustin caused two turnovers, as did Bella Germani.
Up Next: The Panthers will stay home for a Wednesday night contest against the Longwood University Lancers. The matchup will take place on April 1, at 6:00 p.m.
#GoHPU x #RollThers
