ROCK HILL, SC – The Winthrop lacrosse team heads to Virginia this weekend for two contests as the Eagles will face VCU Friday and William & Mary Sunday.
The Eagles enter the week unbeaten with a 5-0 record after three wins in three days last weekend. Midfielder Alexis Linhardt earned Big South Freshman of the Week honors for her performance in the three games last week.
Through five contests, Winthrop is scoring an average of 12.6 goals per game and have had a different leading scorer in each contest. Shannon Gallagher and Katie Clark have led the Eagles offensively with 12 and 10 goals respectively. Allie Yeager has also added eight goals this season.
Defensively the Eagles have limited opponents to only 5.4 goals per game. Goalie Alaina Girani, who has already earned a Defensive Player of the Week nod this year, has a goals-against average of less than five and a .631 save percentage.
VCU, a first-year program, enters Friday's 4 p.m. contest with a 1-2 record picking up the program's first victory over Gardner-Webb. The Rams have fallen to UMBC and Liberty.
Through three contests, VCU's Molly Barcikowski leads the team with 15 points, scoring seven goals and assisting on eight others. Sky Hyatt is second on the team with eight points on four goals and four assists. Ria Peralta has earned all three decisions in goal for VCU and has an 18.49 goals-against average and a .371 save percentage.
Sunday the Eagles will head to Williamsburg, VA for a 1 p.m. contest against William & Mary. The Tribe enter Sunday's match with a 2-2 record with wins of Gardner-Webb and Oregon and losses to Mary land and Virginia.
Shannon Quinn and Abby Corkum have led the Tribe offensively with nine and seven goals respectively this season. Danielle Palmucci leads the team with eight assists to go along with her two goals. William & Mary has played three people in goal this season with each picking up at least one decision. Alex Lista has seen the most minutes and has allowed 12.57 goals per game while saving 45 percent of shots on goal.
Following the Virginia swing this weekend, the Eagles will return home for their second doubleheader of the season on March 12. Both games will be at home with a 12 p.m. contest against Army and a 6 p.m. matchup against Bryant.
