ROCK HILL, SC – The Winthrop lacrosse team will play its first ever Big South Conference tournament game Wednesday when the Eagles host the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at 2 p.m. at Eagle Field in a quarterfinal contest.
The Eagles enter the Big South Tournament as the fourth seed after finishing the regular season with a 4-3 conference mark. Coastal Carolina finished the year with a 3-4 Big South record and is the fifth seed in the tournament.
Winthrop and the Chanticleers met just over a week ago at Eagle Field as the Eagles started their three-game winning streak to close the regular season. Winthrop downed Coastal 16-10.
The Eagles got solid production out of junior Jenna Kasmarik and sophomore Abigail Blevins who each tallied six points. Kasmarik, a Big South First Team All-Conference selection, leads the league in goals scored this year with 61, which broke fellow First-Team selection, Shannon Gallagher's record from a year ago. Gallagher has had another strong year, totaling 62 points on 39 goals and 23 assists.
The Eagles also landed three players on the All-Conference Second Team. Sophomore, Hayley Krause, who leads the team in draw controls earned her second All-Conference award in as many years. Defenders, junior Alyssa Blevins and freshman Paige Jenkins each also earned the honors.
Coastal's Charlotte O'Leary had a strong game against the Eagles last week, scoring four goals on four shots. Sara Nolan recorded a game-high five draw controls and also scored twice for the Chanticleers.
The winner of Wednesday's contest will advance to the Big South semi-finals and will face the winner of the game between top-seeded High Point and the 8th seed, Presbyterian. That game will be played at 4 p.m. on the campus of High Point who will host the semi-finals and championship. The Big South title game is slated for a 2 p.m. start on Sunday and will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
