FARMVILLE, Va. – The High Point University team overcame an early 4-0 deficit and outscored Longwood 17-3 in the final 55 minutes to pull away for a 17-7 win in Farmville, Va. on Saturday. Senior Mackenzie Carroll tallied seven points on five goals and two assists while senior Sara Kuhlman posted six points on four assists and a pair of goals.
“The seniors showed great leadership throught the game,” said HPU head coach Lyndsey Boswell. ” They took it upon themselves and put the weight on their shoulders once we went down early. Sara Kuhlman stoodout helping us create more possessions offensively and Mackenzie Carroll’s aggresiveness going to the cage was a huge factor. Jasmine Jordan also did a great job for us defensively especially with ground balls.”
Carroll and Kuhlman combined for 13 of HPU’s 25 points. Senior Alec Perry and junior Kendyl Gardner also accounted for three points apiece. Jordan and senior Patricia Bigelow anchored the defense. Jordan grabbed a game-high five ground balls and caused two turnovers while Bigelow forced a game-high three turnovers and picked up three ground balls.
High Point moves to 5-0 in Big South play with the win and 9-5 overall on the season. Longwood suffers its first conference loss dropping to 4-1 in the Big South and 7-8 overall.
The Panthers fell into an early 4-0 hole in the first five minutes of the game as Longwood dominated the possession and notched four goals on five shots to start the game.
HPU responded both offensively and defensively shutting down the Lancers attack and limiting Longwood to just four more shots in the final 25 minutes of the half. The Panthers outscored Longwood 8-1 in the final 25 minutes to go into the break with a three-goal lead, 8-5.
Following an HPU timeout after the Lancers fourth goal, Carroll started High Point’s resurgence putting HPU on the board with 21:10 to go in the first. Kuhlman and Perry followed less than a minute later to pull the Panthers within one, 4-3.
Kuhlman knotted the game with 16:17 left to go before Gardner scored her first of the day and put High Point on top for the first time in the game wrapping around the goal and sending a low shot past Longwood’s goalkeeper, Christian Acker.
Longwood broke it’s 20 minute scoreless drought and HPU’s five unanswered goal streak to re-tie the game at 5-5 when attacker Katie McHugh notched her second goal of the contest with 5:04 to go in the first.
The Panthers responded with the final three goals of the half to pull ahead 8-5. Carroll tallied her second off a pass from Kuhlman to push HPU ahead once again. Junior Stephanie Pazulski followed with a score before Gardner scored her second off an assist by Carroll.
HPU continued its run in the second half with the first seven goals to push the lead to 15-5. The Panthers wasted no time as Kuhlman found Carroll again just 13 seconds into the half to start the scoring.
Gardner followed with her third goal of the day. She has now scored a hat trick in four of HPU’s five Big South contests and leads the team with 26 goals on the year. Carroll then tallied another off a pass from Perry before Perry scored her second off an assist from Pazulski.
Carroll added her fifth goal to push HPU’s lead to 13-5 before picking up her second assist on a goal by redshirt-sophomore Emilie Pugliese. A free-position goal by sophomore Kristina Renner pushed High Point’s lead to 15-5.
McHugh stopped the Panthers’ run and notched a hat trick with 13:20 left in the game bring the score to 15-6. The Lancers tacked on another five minutes later to pull within eight before Pugliese scored her second and senior Christie Dougherty notched her first to give HPU the 17-7 win.
Junior Julia Burns picked up the win for HPU making five saves. Acker posted eight saves in net for the Lancers.
High Point outshot Longwood 35-19 in the game. The Panthers also went 13-of-14 on clears while limiting the Lancers to 9-of-12 on clear attempts. HPU’s defense held a 13-4 advantage in caused turnovers.
High Point returns home for the final two games of the regular season. The Panthers will host Campbell on Monday at 6 p.m. before finishing their regular-season slate against Davidson on Sunday, April 27.