ROCK HILL, SC – The Winthrop lacrosse team scored seven unanswered goals and overcame a slow start Friday afternoon to down the Cincinnati Bearcats 11-4 at Eagle Field.
The Eagles remained unbeaten on the season at 3-0 with the victory while the Bearcats fell to 1-2 on the year.
"Our defense really carried us this afternoon," head coach John Sung said. "Forcing 14 turnovers helped us to get over the slow offensive start and that was fueled by Maggie (Montanye) and Alaina (Girani)."
Cincinnati came out strong, scoring the first two goals of the game and led 2-0 with 19:34 on the clock. After that, the Eagle defense clamped down and the offense picked up the pace.
Krista Frowein got the scoring started with a man-down goal on a feed from Logan McCarthy to get the Eagles on the board with 13:59 left in the first half. Shannon Gallagher tied the game on a free-position shot and Abigail Blevins gave Winthrop the lead with 8:09 on the clock.
Katie Clark had a strong performance which started with 3:07 left in the first half as she scored the first of her three goals, coming on a free-position shot. She scored again from the eight-meter with 1:11 left to give Winthrop a 5-2 lead at the break.
Clark started the scoring in the second half 2:09 into the period, again on a free-position to put the Eagles up 6-2. Allie Yeager scored on a feed from Kristen Shriver with 25:46 on the clock to give Winthrop the 7-2 edge. Cincinnati stopped the Winthrop run with 22:01 left in the game to stay within four at 7-3.
Winthrop then started to put the game away. Kristen Shriver scored with 19:14 left and less than a minute later Frowein scored her second to put the Eagles up 9-3. Kienan Linhardt and Alexis Linhardt each tallied a goal in the last 15 minutes of the game to cap off the Winthrop scoring.
Clark's game-high three goals came on six shots, all from the eight-meter arc. Blevins and Shriver each added two assists to go along with their goals. Gallagher showed her all-around ability adding three draw controls and four ground balls to her single goal.
Winthrop's strong defensive performance started with the play of senior Maggie Montanye who forced four turnovers as the Eagles as a whole caused 14. Sophomore goalie Alaina Girani finished with 10 saves, allowing only four goals and also picking up two ground balls.
The Eagles will have a short turnaround as they play two games on Sunday. Winthrop will be on the road for a noon game at Davidson before hosting St. Francis at 6 p.m.
