FARMVILLE, Va. – On the strength of a five-goal, two-assist night from sophomore midfielder Erica Perrotta, High Point pulled away from a close contest for a 13-7 win over Longwood women's lacrosse in Wednesday's home finale at the Athletics Complex.

Perrotta, the Panthers' third-leading goal scorer, stepped up as the day's offensive leader for High Point (11-4, 7-0 BSC) with three goals in the final 31 minutes to help her squad overcome an early first-half deficit. High Point remains unbeaten in conference play after withstanding a combined six points from national-points leaders in Longwood (7-9, 3-4 BSC) seniors Katie McHugh and Sarah Butler.

"Unfortunately, we let this one slide past us, but it was a good game to be a part of in the end," said Butler.

The Lancers struck quickly in the first eight minutes of the game to take a 2-0 lead off a pair of goals by Butler and sophomore midfielder Madison Stair. Butler put in the first goal of the day after being found in front of the goal by senior teammate Lisa Schell within the first minute of the game.

High Point responded with four straight scores across the next 13 minutes to take the lead which it never relinquished the rest of the way. Perrotta scored back-to-back unassisted goals during the scoring run that gave the Panthers a 4-2 lead.

In spite of seeing the lead slip, Longwood fought back to cut the deficit to one goal with a score by McHugh following an exchange of goals by both teams. McHugh found the net with 3:54 remaining in the first half to bring the Lancers to within striking distance at 5-4.

Following a stretch of three consecutive Panther goals, the Lancers made a push to crawl within two scores of High Point behind the play of senior trio of McKenzie, McHugh and Butler. McKenzie beat a pair of defenders for her lone goal, while Butler set up McHugh's second of the day with 23:39 left on the game clock.

In response to Longwood's scoring run, however, High Point strung together another scoring run with four straight goals to give itself a seven-goal cushion in the game's final six minutes. The run included Perrotta's fifth score and was capped off by the sophomore assisting on a goal by senior teammate Allie Foard for a 12-6 lead.

Facing a seven-goal deficit in the final two mintues of the the game, the Lancers continued to battle the rest of the way to get one last goal at home this season. McHugh completed her hat trick after being fed by sophomore attacker Riley Dolan for their team's seventh goal with 1:47 on the game clock.
 
"I'm happy that our four seniors were able to play their last home game in front of an enthusiastic crowd and I'm proud of our team for battling all game," said Longwood head coach Elaine Jones.
 
The game marked the final home game for this year's Longwood senior class consisting of Butler, McHugh, Shiloh Mckenze and Lisa Schell. After receiving special Senior Day recognition prior to first draw, the quartet poured out a combined five goals and three assists for an eight-point performance in front of a packed crowd.

McHugh, who broke Longwood's single-season points record a week ago, reached another milestone with a three-goal performance to become the program's second-leading goal scorer. The senior attacker led the way for the Lancers with her hat trick, including two goals in the second half,  to reach 191 career goals in her final home appearance.

"It's super exciting to do that," McHugh said. "But I obviously couldn't have done any of this without the help of my teammates and coaches along the away. I have them to thank for these accomplishments as well."

The captain of this Lancer squad, Butler helped set up the Lancer attack to finish with a team-high two assists while also adding one goal. Her three points in the game pushed her into a tie for third on the program's all-time points (214) charts in her final goodbye to the home crowd.

"It has been great to be a part of this program's growth with coach Jones and my other senior teammates," said Butler. "It's been special playing with Katie because we've both done so well on offense together, and Shiloh and Lisa have both helped us on the attack as well. And it was great to have the crowd here today, we could feel the emotion and energy from the sidelines."

McKenzie, who leads the team in caused turnovers, once again led the team with three of the team's five caused turnovers in the game. A captain on the defensive unit, McKenzie also contributed a groundball and three draw controls to go along with her single goal on the offensive end.

A product of Lothina, Md., McKenzie leaves behind her mark on the home field as the team leader in caused turnovers for the second straight year, a feat she credits to her teammates and coaches for their encouragement to help her excel in her main position.

"Part of it has been the team and coaches behind me, giving me support," she said. "That has been my main job, causing turnovers, getting groundballs and holding the opposing team's attack. I've just tried to fulfill my role that my team has given me."

High Point goalkeeper Molly Andrews, who entered the game with the league's best save percentage, earned the win behind eight saves on 19 shots saved in 60 minutes of action.

Longwood sophomore goalkeeper Imani West also put up a solid performance in goal with a career-high 14 saves after facing a whirlwind of shots from the Panthers despite taking the loss. She guided the Longwood defensive unit that helped keep 20 of High Point's 33 shots from reaching the back of the net in the game.

"Our defense did a really good job in forcing them to take contested shots," said West, who surpassed her previous career-high 13 saves. "We did a great job of communicating and moving on defense, which is something we worked on to improve from our last game. We set the standard high for ourselves to get better and I think we met that goal tonight."

In addition to playing behind a defense that helped many High Point shots array, West also stood her ground in face-to-face battles with six stops coming on free position shots. Overall, West's presence in front of the net, along with a stingy defense, held the Panthers to a 1-of-7 clip on their free position shot attempts during the game.

On the attack, High Point took advantage of its 26-17 advantage in groundballs by turning their extra possessions into scoring chances. The Panthers capitalized on turning their collected groundballs into shots for a 33-19 shot advantage in the game.
 
Also stepping up for High Point's attack was senior attacker Allie Foard with her own four-goal day on the field. Foard's performance gave the duo consisting of her and Perrotta a combined nine goals, outscoring the Lancers for the game.

Longwood will now head on to Buies Creek, N.C., to wrap up the regular season against Big South-foe Campbell on Saturday, April 23. The game is slated for a 2 p.m. start.

#GoWood