HIGH POINT N.C. – In a rematch of a game that took place fewer than 10 days earlier, fourth-seeded High Point dispatched fifth-seeded Longwood in the quarterfinal round of the Big South Women's Lacrosse Championship Tuesday evening at Vert Stadium.
 
The win sends High Point (8-9) to a semifinal matchup at No. 1 seed Winthrop Friday in Rock Hill, S.C., and ends the 2015 campaign for the Lancers (6-12).
 
"The team played hard and exhibited a lot of heart and hustle," Longwood head coach Elaine Jones said. "I was especially pleased with their ability to keep fighting when they were down four and five goals. Unfortunately we just didn't come up with enough draws and 50-50 balls to get us the possessions we needed on offense."
 
On the strength of seven draw controls from Kristina Renner, High Point won the battle in the center circle 18-7, including four of the game's final five draws. The Panthers grabbed 10 more ground balls than the Lancers as well, ultimately leading to a time of possession advantage that proved insurmountable for Longwood in attempting to rally from a six-goal deficit.
 
The loss derailed a late-season surge for the Lancers, who entered the postseason winners of four of their final six games and finished above .500 in conference play for the third straight year. However, one of Longwood's two losses during that surge to the regular season finish line was a 15-6 loss at High Point on April 19, and the Panthers had Longwood's number again in the second half Tuesday.
 
Four of Samantha Brown's five goals came after halftime to ignite a second-half rally that saw the Panthers break open a game that they led just 5-3 at halftime. The second-half rally started immediately, as Brown came out of the break to score back-to-back goals inside the first minute of the half and jumpstart a 4-0 run that increased High Point's lead to six.
 
It took Longwood over four minutes to answer, but All-Big South first team midfielder Sarah Butler's second goal of the day at the 26:46 mark broke up High Point's scoring streak and sparked a 6-2 Longwood rally that closed the gap back to 11-8. The goal was the first of three on the day for the two-time all-conference pick, who finished the year second on the team in goals, assists and points.
 
Butler's goal was the first of three straight for the Lancers, who followed with two more scores from All-Big South honorable mention choice Katie McHugh and senior captain Sarah Arndt. Those three goals came on just four shots as the Lancers managed, at least temporarily, to dissect the third-best scoring defense in the Big South.
 
However, after Arndt's career-best 25th goal of the year cut High Point's lead to three, Brown went back to work and answered with two straight scores to wrestle the momentum back to High Point's huddle. She needed just 50 seconds after Arndt's goal to break up Longwood's scoring streak, and then hit again following a scoring drought of more than six minutes to push the Panthers ahead 13-8.
 
Those back-to-back goals broke up a miserly stretch for Longwood goalkeeper Christian Acker, who held the Panthers to just one goal during a stretch of 13-plus minutes. Acker stopped four of five shots during that span, including three saves during the six-minute scoreless that carried into the final four minutes of the game. Ultimately, however, it was Brown who broke up the scoring dearth with her fifth goal of the game, doing so at the end of a sequence that started when High Point's All-Big South goalkeeper Julia Burns survived a point blank free position shot by McHugh with under six minutes to play.
 
McHugh would make up for her foiled shot less than 10 seconds after Brown's final goal, connecting on her last attempt of the day at the 3:36 mark to close High Point's lead to 13-8. That would be the last shot the Panthers allowed Longwood, however, as back-to-back draw controls allowed High Point to run out the clock and move on to the semifinals at No. 1 seed Winthrop Friday.
 
"While the season ends with this loss, I'm proud of our seniors who put so much time effort and heart into the team all year," Jones said. "I'm happy to see the progress made by our upperclassmen too. I'm confident the team has a lot to look forward to next year."
 
With the loss, Longwood caps the 2015 season 6-12 overall and 4-3 in Big South play for a third straight top-five league finish. The Lancers will say goodbye to up to seven members of their senior class but return eight starters for the 2016 season, including three of their top five goal scorers and points leaders and All-Big South selections Butler, McHugh and Shiloh McKenzie.
 
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