Longwood lacrosse (5-11, 3-3) dropped two spots to the fifth-seed in the conference after their 15-6 loss to the High Point University Panthers (6-9, 4-2) on Sunday in North Carolina.
The teams stepped onto the field tied for third, both with three Big South wins andtwo Big South losses to their names. The Panthers’ large ten goal lead in the first half carried them through, giving them separation from the Lancers.
Within the first 40 seconds of the game, High Point freshman midfielder Erica Perrotta began the onslaught of Panther goals. Longwood was down by nine prior to scoring their first goal with under seven minutes left in the first half.
Perrotta, Big South Freshman of the Week, went on to score two more goals, finishing every shot. Junior midfielder Leah Pace also tallied three goals, all of them occurring in the first half.
Freshman attacker Madison Stair earned three goals for Longwood in the second half, two within the last two minutes, the most of any Longwood player.
High Point’s attack slowed after halftime, their shot count decreasing from 20 to nine. The team scored all five of their second half shots-on-goal.
The Panthers scored more goals (15) than Longwood shot (12) overall.
Defensively, High Point won more ground balls, 23-18; Pace scooped six on her own.
Both teams gave up 14 turnovers, while Longwood caused one more (9) than High Point.
One conference match remains between Longwood and the Big South conference tournament in less than a week.
The Lancers will face undefeated Liberty University (7-8, 5-0); Liberty currently sits on the No. 2 spot, tied with Winthrop University (13-2, 5-0) for first.
Longwood plays Liberty this Friday, April 24 at home.
