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ROCK HILL, SC – Sophomores Danielle Ellis and Shannon Gallagher totaled nine and eight points respectively Wednesday as the Winthrop lacrosse team downed St. Francis 19-10 at Eagle Field.

Winthrop (2-2) got off to a strong start in the first half, scoring the first three goals of the contest, two from the stick of sophomore Shannon Gallagher and one from junior Alyssa Blevins.  St. Francis (0-3) responded in a big way, rattling off five-straight goals to go up 5-3 with 9:35 left in the first half.

"It was hard for us to get focused and stay in system after the long break," head coach John Sung said.  "Everyone wanted to make a player, but once we settled down and ran our offense we were able to smooth things out."

Shannon Gallagher stopped the Red Flash run with 9:02 on the clock with her third goal of the game.  St. Francis went back up by two with 3:41 left in the half.  Winthrop closed the half with four goals in the last 3:31, two from junior Jenna Kasmarik while sophomore Logan McCarthy added one and Gallagher notched her fourth of the half.

Winthrop continued its offensive pressure as Gallagher got the scoring started less than two minutes into the second half.  St. Francis scored a man-up goal with 23:33 on the clock to get within three at 10-7, but the Eagles scored three straight in just over two minutes to increase their lead to 13-7.

Over the last 20 minutes, St. Francis netted three goals as Winthrop added six more to reach the final score of 19-10.

Danielle Ellis finished with three goals and six assists for her nine points while Shannon Gallagher netted seven goals and notched one assist for her eight points.  Gallagher also picked up two ground balls, two draw controls and forced three turnovers.  Jenna Kasmarik scored five goals and scooped up eight draw controls.  Hayley Krause also recorded seven draw controls.

The Eagles finished with 11 assists on their 19 goals and recorded 27 total shots.  Winthrop picked up 17 ground balls and dominated the draw controls 24-6.  St. Francis assisted on four of their 10 goals and had 14 ground balls.

"This was a great all-around game for us," Sung said.  "We found our stride offensively and our defense was solid, causing 14 turnovers.  It was great to see Danielle Ellis have a breakout game as well."

Winthrop has a quick turnaround as the Eagles will host the Cincinnati Bearcats on Friday at 6 p.m. at Eagle Field.