HIGH POINT, N.C. — The High Point University women's lacrosse team returned to Vert Stadium for a mid-week matchup against the East Carolina University Pirates for the first time on Wednesday. The Panthers fell short, 14-13, as Lily Trout and Ella McKay both recorded hat tricks, while freshman Anna Mullikin finished with a career-high five points.
SITE: Vert Stadium
SCORE: High Point 13, East Carolina 14
RECORDS: High Point (5-9) East Carolina (7-7)
Head Coach Lyndsey Boswell: "We didn't get the result we wanted tonight, but I'm happy with the grit and resilience we showed. We had many contributors coming off the bench, and I'm really proud of those girls. Ella McKay and Lily Trout were huge contributors on offense and made big plays in the ride to create more offense. I thought Gracie Vickery and our draw unit did an unbelievable job sticking together. We gave up some easy goals on defense and had chances throughout the entire game to put some goals away, and we just didn't make it happen. Excited to have the weekend to improve and finish out conference play next week, celebrating our seniors."
The Panthers got their first point on the board when Trout scored her first goal unassisted, 50 seconds into the game, quickly followed by an unassisted goal from Mullikin and giving the Panthers an early lead of 2-0.
ECU tied the game 2-2, but Mullikin struck again after connecting with redshirt sophomore attacker McKay to score her first goal of the game. Eva Thorn then gave the Panthers a 4-3 lead, receiving a pass from Tatum Goettelmann.
Trout got the Panthers rolling again at the start of the second quarter. ECU responded to Trout's goal and took the lead 6-5; however, freshman Ava Grandi quickly made it a tie game once again. Mullikin followed it up by giving the Panthers a 7-6 lead. McKay scored the final first-half goal for the Panthers as they went into halftime up 8-7.
While the Pirates took the lead back, senior Shannon Smith connected with Bella Germani as Germani registered her first goal to tie the game at 9-9.
Then, 50 seconds later, a third goal by McKay was scored to give her team the lead 10-9 and her first collegiate hat trick. Goettelmann wanted to join the scoring with just under six minutes remaining in the quarter, netting her first goal of the game via a pass from Germani.
In the final quarter, Trout scored 29 seconds in, connecting on her fourth hat trick of the season. Smith added to the Panthers' lead, 13-11, with just over nine minutes remaining.However, the Pirates scored three goals and the Panthers were unable to respond.
The Panthers forced the Pirates to turn the ball over 16 times as Mullikin led the way with three caused turnovers. Goalie Ava Welsh made six saves, while four Panthers had two ground balls each. Sydney Martin added two ground ball and two caused turnovers.
Up Next: The Panthers are back on the road, as they head to Boiling Springs, N.C., for a mid-week match-up against the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs. This matchup will be on Wednesday, April 22, at 4 p.m.
#GoHPU
