High Point, N.C. — The High Point University women's lacrosse team faced the Radford Highlanders at Vert Stadium for a Big South Conference matchup on Wednesday night. The Panthers emptied the bench, playing nearly everyone on the roster while shutting out the Highlanders in the second half to cruise to their third straight win,19-2.
HPU was led by junior Tatum Gottelmann, who set three new career highs behind four goals, five assists, and nine points, while sophomore Lily Trout who set her own career high with four goals. Freshmen Ava Grandi and Anna Mullikin both had their first starts in their collegiate careers; meanwhile, goalkeeper Ava Welsh recorded her 100th career ground ball, and freshman Laney Schmith recorded her first collegiate goal.
SITE: Vert Stadium
SCORE: High Point 19, Radford 2
RECORDS: High Point (4-8, 4-1), Longwood (2-11, 1-3)
Head Coach Lyndsey Boswell: "I am really proud of the girls tonight. It was a very physical game that came out of nowhere, but we kept our composure, stuck to our discipline, followed our game plan, and I'm really proud of the execution tonight at home. We knew it was here the whole time. I mean, we played a tough schedule, and maybe the toughest schedule in Big South Conference play. So, others may not have known what we've, you know, been stirring up, but we've had a lot of adversity, and through that lot of grit and resilience, and the bounce back is strong, and I'm excited for what's coming."
Kate Prentice helped the Panthers find their rhythm after scoring the first goal, and Trout followed two minutes later, making the score 2-0. The Highlanders respond to Trout's goal moments later, but Prentice struck again just under five minutes remaining in the first quarter.
Gottelmann netted her first goal of the night to give the Panthers a three-point lead and Trout used her free-position attempt to extend the lead to a four-point game at the end of the first quarter. Thirty-three seconds in the second quarter, Gottelmann began to heat up, scoring her second goal of the game, then moments later, assisted Trout in scoring her third goal of the night.
Mullikin wanted to get in on the fun with just under 11 minutes remaining in the half when she scored her first goal to give the Panthers a seven-point lead. Prentice had her own first-half hat trick with just over a minute in the half, and the Panthers went into halftime up 9-2.
Gottelmann and Trout kept the fire going into the second half when Goettelman scored, starting the half with a hat trick, closely followed by a goal from Trout, assisted by Goettelman, who then quickly scored her fourth goal of the game, setting her new career-high in goals scored.
The Panthers did not slow down when Schmith connected with Goettelmann to score her first collegiate goal. The Panthers were up 11 points when Anna Checkosky connected with Trout to make it a 14-point lead for HPU, and a minute later, junior Bella Germani joined in and made it a 13-point lead.
The Panthers went into the fourth quarter up 16-2 when, with 40 seconds left in the third quarter, Shannon Smith scored her first goal of the night. Smith started HPU strong in the final quarter, making the score 17-2 after making her free position shot.
With just over four minutes, there was no stopping junior Sarah Johnson, who scored her first goal of the night after making a connection with Gretchen Kawecki and later connecting with Emily Frescoln to score her second goal.
The Panthers did not slow down in the second half, going on a 10-0 run and finishing 19-2. Trout, Prentice and Goettelmann combined for 11 of the team's 19 goals as nine different players scored. The draw unit won 17 to Radford's five and Mullikin led the team for the second straight game with six draw control wins.
"We're working really hard in practice, and we're doing a lot of things out of practice, like film, and extra reps to help with our cohesion, and I think it's really showing," Trout said.
HPU forced 26 turnovers — led by three from Haley Urban and Ava Grandi — as Jaidyn Donley had three ground balls and the defense limited Radford to only eight shots and two goals. Sydney Martin led the way on the clears, helping the Panthers have 19-of-21 clears as the Panthers picked up 26 ground balls to the Highlanders' 17.
Up Next: The Panthers are headed to Greenville, S.C., for another Big South matchup against the Furman University Paladin. This matchup will be on April 11 at 2:00 pm.
#GoHPU
