ROCK HILL, SC – In only its third year of NCAA competition, the Winthrop lacrosse team has risen to the top of the Big South and now will play for a conference title and automatic bid to the NCAA tournament Sunday against the Liberty Flames.

Sunday's championship contest is slated for a 1 p.m. first draw at Eagle Field and will be broadcast live on ESPN3.

The Eagles are coming off one of their most dramatic wins in three years in Friday's semifinals, an 11-10 victory over High Point.  Winthrop went down 6-0 and trailed 9-6 at halftime before limiting High Point to only one goal in the second half.  It was the first time in program history that the Eagles overcame a halftime deficit to win.

Friday's victory over the Panthers was the first for the Eagles in five tries and also handed High Points its first-ever Big South tournament loss and assured a new champion would be crowned in the Big South.

Liberty advanced to the title game with a 14-8 victory over Coastal Carolina in Friday's second semifinal.

The Eagles and Flames met previously on April 21 with the top tournament seed, tournament hosting rights and the regular season title on the line and Winthrop won in dominating fashion, 17-6.  Winthrop was led by Shannon Gallagher's eight points on seven goals and one assist.  Freshman goalie Alaina Girani had a stellar outing, making 13 saves in the victory.

This will be the fourth all-time meeting between the two squads with the Eagles holding a 2-1 advantage.  Each of the previous three meetings have had significance.  In 2013, Liberty scored its only win over the Eagles, knocking them out of tournament contention.  In 2014, Winthrop went on the road and knocked off the Flames, eliminating them from contention to host a quarterfinal tournament contest.

Sunday's conference champion will earn the Big South's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.  The winner will find out its NCAA fate Sunday evening at 9 p.m. as the selection show will be shown live on NCAA.com.