ROCK HILL, SC – Shannon Gallagher scored a Big South tournament record eight goals Tuesday afternoon as the top-seeded Winthrop lacrosse team downed the Presbyterian Blue Hose 21-5, advancing to the tournament semifinals.
Winthrop improved to 15-3 overall, a new Big South record for wins in a season and will play the winner of the #4/#5 contest of High Point and Longwood on Friday at 4 p.m. at Eagle Field. Presbyterian finished the season 3-14.
The game was scoreless through the opening 10 minutes before the Eagles netted three goals in a four-minute span to go up 3-0 with 15:40 on the clock. Allie Yeager, Abigail Blevins and Jenna Kasmarik scored for Winthrop. Presbyterian scored two of the next three and trailed 4-2 with 11:59 left in the half.
Winthrop then grabbed three of the next four goals, taking a 7-3 advantage. Shannon Gallagher scored twice and Blevins scored the other. Presbyterian grabbed its final goal of the half with 5:42 remaining. The Eagles scored the final five goals of the half, taking a 12-4 lead into the break. Gallagher netted three of the final five and was joined by Kasmarik and Yeager.
The Eagles had a much stronger start to the second half, scoring four times in the first ten minutes. Gallagher had three of those tallies while Kasmarik had one. The Eagles hit a running clock with their second goal, going up 14-4 with 26:57 left in the contest.
Winthrop scored nine goals in the second half before Presbyterian got on the board. The Eagles got contributions from Logan McCarthy, Abigail Blevins, Krista Frowein and Allie Yeager to go along with Kasmarik and Gallagher. Presbyterian scored its only goal of the second half with just under seven minutes to play, to reach the 21-5 final.
Gallagher scored her eight goals on 10 shots and also had five caused turnovers and four ground balls. Kasmarik and Yeager each added four goals and Abigail Blevins netted three.
Freshman Katherine Judge was strong on the circle, corralling six draw controls and picking up eight ground balls. Freshman goalie Alaina Girani picked up the victory while making four saves.
Presbyterian was led by Ashley Wren who had two goals while three others scored once. Maura Talvacchia led the team with five caused turnovers and also picked up five ground balls.
The Eagles dominated the circle, winning the draw-control battle 20-8. Winthrop also came out on top in ground balls 28-22. The Eagles took 41 shots to Presbyterian's 12 and went 5-for-7 on free-position attempts.
