ROCK HILL, SC – Junior Shannon Gallagher tallied seven goals and one assist Tuesday as the Winthrop lacrosse team downed the Liberty Flames 17-6 to clinch at least a share of the regular season title, the top seed in the upcoming conference tournament and hosting rights throughout.
Winthrop improved to 14-2 overall and 6-0 in the conference, winning its seventh straight game. Liberty fell to 7-9 overall and 5-1 in the Big South.
Gallagher totaled her seven goals on eight shots, went 3-for-3 on free-position attempts and forced six turnovers. Freshman Kristen Shriver finished with five assists while junior Abigail Blevins and Logan McCarthy each tallied three goals.
Freshman Alaina Girani had yet another impressive performance in goal, totaling 13 saves while allowing only the six goals while also picking up three ground balls. Freshman Katherine Judge finished with eight draw controls and two ground balls.
Winthrop got off to a very strong start against the Flames, going up 4-0 in the first 6:15 of the contest. Shannon Gallagher netted the first three and Abigail Blevins put the Eagles up 4-0. Liberty grabbed the next two tallies to get within 4-2 with 17:22 to play.
Allie Yeager scored her first of the game with 16:45 on the clock to give Winthrop the three-goal lead. After Liberty got back within 5-3, the Eagles scored the final three goals of the half. Logan McCarthy and Krista Frowein scored within 40 seconds of each other and Gallagher tallied the last on a free-position attempt as time expired to give Winthrop the 8-3 halftime lead.
The Eagles dominated the opening 10 minutes of the second half, putting the game out of reach early, scoring six unanswered goals. Jenna Kasmarik, Gallagher and Blevins scored the first three followed by a pair from McCarthy and capped off by another goal from Gallagher, putting Winthrop up 14-3 with 20:09 on the clock.
Liberty pulled one goal back with 14:03 remaining but Winthrop scored the next three. Kasmarik, Gallagher and Blevins each added to their goal total, giving the Eagles a 17-4 advantage with just over five minutes to play. The Flames scored twice in the final 90 seconds to reach the 17-6 final.
Winthrop outshot the Flames 25-20, reaching nearly 70 percent on its shot percentage. The Eagles came out on top of both draw controls and ground balls, beating Liberty 14-10 and 17-15 respectively.
The Eagles will close out the regular season on Friday, heading to High Point for a 6 p.m. contest against the Panthers. A victory for Winthrop will give the Eagles the outright regular season title.
