Box Score
Box Score
CHARLESTON, SC – The eighth-seeded Winthrop women's soccer team finished the season as the Big South Conference runner-up as it fell 4-2 to the seventh-seeded High Point Panthers on penalty kicks in the championship match on Sunday afternoon at Blackbaud Stadium.
The Lady Eagles season comes to an end with a 5-10-6 overall record, while the Panthers record goes to 6-15-2 on the season.
It was the third consecutive game for Winthrop that went to the penalty kick round.
“We're sad and disappointed for not winning the conference tournament,” said head coach Melissa Heinz. “We worked hard to become conference champions. Someone has to lose and someone has to win.”
It was a tale of two halves by both teams as the Lady Eagles outshot High Point 5-3 in the first half, while the Panthers held a 9-8 shot advantage in the second stanza.
Kathryn Leach got things started in the penalty kick round giving Winthrop a 1-0 lead, but Laura Eldridge tied for the Panthers at 1-1. Courtney Durbin followed to make it 2-1, but Kim Grennan answered back to tie it again at 2-2. The Lady Eagles were unable to score again in penalty kicks, and High Point took advantage placing two consecutive shots in the back of the net.
“I'm proud of the players,” said Heinz. “We worked and played hard. We're thankful for everyone that was here to watch the match. We played to win, we wouldn't have done anything differently.”
The Panthers finished the contest with an 18-15 mark in total shots, while both teams had four shots on-goal. High Point also led 3-2 in corner kick.
Ariel Kunde led Winthrop in shots with three, while four different Lady Eagles had one shot on-target each. Kelsy Weavil snagged a total of four saves in the match.
Danielle Schepler had a team-high four shots for the Panthers, and Jillie Johnston had two shots on-goal. Marisa Abbot also had four saves in the game.
“We'll heal from this and go even harder next year,” added Heinz. “The future looks bright for us, but for right now I'm just going to be proud of this team that got us here.”
Senior Stevie Lucas, junior Katie Perkinson and freshman Kylie Long were named to the Big South Conference All-Tournament Team for Winthrop.
