HIGH POINT, N.C. — The William & Mary lacrosse team earned its second straight victory with an exciting 18-17 triumph at High Point on Wednesday evening.
W&M (3-3) trailed 17-16 midway through the fourth quarter, but it charged ahead with goals by Ainsley Huizenga (6:43) and Alexis Savage (4:32) and held the Panthers (1-4) scoreless for the final 8:51 en route to earning the impressive non-conference road win.
HPU had a few opportunities to tie the score down the stretch, but Many Brockamp’s attempt on goal with 1:26 remaining hit the post and Finley Hoffman secured the ground ball, while Serena Jacobs caused a turnover in the final seconds to preserve the victory.
After a tightly contested start to the game, which featured six ties, W&M utilized an 8-2 run midway through the contest to build a 14-9 advantage late in the third quarter. Anna Dawson, Paige Gilbert and Huizenga all scored twice during the pivotal stretch.
High Point responded, however, with an 8-2 run of its own to take the one-goal fourth-quarter edge before W&M’s impressive closing finish.
Dawson led the Tribe offensively with a team-high six points (5g, 1a), while she also recorded a pair of caused turnovers. All five of her goals came during the first half.
Huizenga (4g, 1a), Gilbert (2g, 3a) and Piper Kienzle (2g, 3a) totaled five points apiece, while Savage posted her first career hat trick. Huizenga’s four goals were a career high, while Gilbert also added five draw controls.
Claire Doto led W&M on the draw circle and equaled her career high with six draw controls, while goalie Marin Wilhelm tallied 10 saves.
HPU outshot W&M, 40-30, which included a 27-24 margin in attempts on goal, but the Panthers’ goalies combined for just six saves as the Tribe posted a .600 team shooting percentage.
The Tribe owned a 15-10 advantage in ground balls, while the Panthers held a 21-16 edge in draw controls.
Both teams committed 15 turnovers apiece.
Cha Esprit led the Panthers with eight points (7g, 1a), while Reese Dowgiallo (2g, 1a), Shannon Smith (2g, 1a) and Brockamp (1g, 2a) added three points apiece.
Allie Connally also found the back of the cage twice and totaled a team-high nine draw controls.
The Tribe will look to extend its winning streak to three games when it plays at Longwood on Saturday at 1 p.m.
