ROCK HILL, SC – The Winthrop lacrosse team fell just short of pulling off an upset of the nationally-ranked High Point Panthers Wednesday evening, falling 16-14 at Eagle Field.

Winthrop falls to 12-4 overall and 4-2 in the conference while High Point improved to 13-2 overall and 6-0 in the Big South.  With the victory, the Panthers clinched the top seed and hosting rights to the conference tournament.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The two sides traded goals in the opening four minutes before the Panthers gained a two-goal edge just under 10 minutes into the contest.  Winthrop responded with two quick goals to tie the game at 3-3 with 18:22 on the clock.  After High Point took a timeout, the Panthers rattled off four straight goal, taking a 7-3 lead with 8:48 left in the half.

Winthrop dominated the last eight minutes of the period.  Only 40 seconds after High Point scored its last goal, Katherine Judge netted her third of the game on a free-position.  Nicole Beatson pulled the Eagles back within two just over a minute later.  Judge then scored back-to-back goals to tie the match at 7-7.  The Eagles took their first lead of the contest with 2:06 showing on the clock on another goal from Beatson.  High Point had an opportunity to tie the game in the closing seconds of the half but goalie Alaina Girani came up with a big save.

High Point started the second half strong, regaining its momentum.  The Panthers scored three times in the opening 3:15 of the period to regain a two-goal edge at 10-8.  Winthrop tried to mount a comeback but throughout the half the Eagles were unable to string two goals together.

The Panthers went back up by three goals at 13-10 with 19:01 remaining.  The two sides then traded the next eight goals and the Eagles found themselves down two with 5:46 on the clock.  Winthrop had a chance to get within one with just under four minutes left from the eight-meter but the shot went wide.  The sequence ended with a yellow card to Winthrop and High Point was able to run most of the rest of the clock down for the 16-14 victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Beatson and Judge each tallied five goals to tie for the team lead.  Beatson also added one assist and three draw controls.  Judge led the team with seven draw controls, seven ground balls and six caused turnovers.  Katie Clark added three goals and one assist.  Girani finished the night with six saves.

High Point narrowly outshot the Eagles 31-30.  The Panthers outhustled the Eagles on the draw circle 19-13 but the Eagles led the Panthers 24-12 on ground balls.

WHAT'S UP NEXT
The Eagles will close out the regular season on Saturday at 3 p.m. on the road against the Gardner-Webb Bulldogs.