HPU rolls into women's lacrosse finals
May 7—HIGH POINT — High Point University women's lacrosse took an eraser to the Big South record book Friday before the thunderstorms swept over Vert Stadium on Friday.
The top-seeded Panthers cruised past No. 5 seed Gardner-Webb 25-15 in the semifinals of the Big South's conference tournament and broke the event's single-game scoring record by two goals. The Panthers were led offensively by Abby Hormes, who scored eight goals on 17 shots and tied the record for the most goals in any Big South tournament game.
Hormes boosted her goal total for the season to 101 and moved to within one of the NCAA single-season record held by Boston College standout Charlotte North. Hormes also dished an assist as she became the eighth player in NCAA history with 400 career points (the total of goals and assists).
"I'm grateful to be able to coach Abby for another game," HPU head coach Lyndsey Boswell said. "I'm proud of the way she has led our team. She's clearly peaking at the right time. She's also bringing players along. I'm happy for Abby and the girls she's working around."
Mean Leoscher added six goals. Nicole Pugh, Julia Nicastro, Pia Cavallaro and Key Rossell had two each. Liz Meister, Ava Scudillo and Grace Bruce had one.
The victory was the ninth in a row for the Panthers, who improved to 10-8 and advanced to play No. 2 seed Mercer in the championship game on Sunday at 1 p.m., also in Vert Stadium. The Bears defeated Furman 22-4 in Friday's second game, which was delayed by lightning.
Tied 2-2 early, the Panthers gained separation with its defense, dominating in draw controls and ground balls and forcing the Runnin' Bulldogs into costly turnovers. The combination, along with a huge advantage in shots, helped the Panthers lead 9-4 at the end of the first quarter and 14-7 at the half.
HPU finished with a 36-18 advantage in ground balls, led 26-16 in draw controls and forced 23 turnovers that included 14 in the first half. Hormes led the Panthers in draw controls with 15 and forced four turnovers while Scudillo caused six.
"We were happier to separate earlier than we did when we played them in the regular season," Boswell said. "We came out stronger and that contributed to the separation. Draw controls, we were very good in the first half and then settled back in the second half and took our foot off the pedal. Overall, we were able to create some turnovers and convert them into goals."
WIth the Panthers up 3-2, Hormes came up with a tone-setting play, forcing a GWU turnover near its goal, controlling the ball and firing in a shot. That was the second goal and spark for what became a 7-1 run that also included a Hormes fastbreak goal when she sped down the field from the Bulldogs offensive end.
"Abby has that ability to make big plays in transition and create momentum for us," Boswell said. "That fourth goal is something that we needed to get ourselves on a little bit of a roll."
The roll left HPU up 9-3 with just under a minute left in the first period. The Runnin' Bulldogs (10-9) never cut the margin below five.
"Getting those fastbreak goals are our favorite things to do, which most teams have seen," Loescher said. "When we can get it down, we can work through some things and we're pretty unstoppable."
The Runnin's Bulldogs matched the Panthers in scoring and kept the margin at seven goals or less in the second half until HPU went on a 5-0 run in the last 10 minutes of the third quarter. Hormes scored twice and Loescher, Caballero and Nicastro tallied one each in the burst that put HPU ahead 21-10. HPU enjoyed its biggest lead at 23-11 with 9:53 left to play.
The Panthers took 48 shots but were denied on point-blank opportunities by Runnin' Bulldogs keeper Danielle Burke, who made 15 saves.
Gardner-Webb scored its 15 goals on just 24 shots as Panthers goalie Taylor Suplee made just five saves. Jada Preston led the Runnin' Bulldogs with four goals, and Eilish Gately and Brittany Sherrod had three each.
gsmith@hpenews.com — 336-888-3519
