Winthrop women’s lacrosse advances to Big South tournament championship
The Winthrop women’s lacrosse team got strong offensive and defensive production Thursday afternoon as the Eagles downed Coastal Carolina 8-4 in the Big South tournament semifinals.
Winthrop (19-2) advances to its second consecutive Big South championship game and will play High Point, which beat Campbell 19-6 on Thursday. Coastal finished its season at 11-7.
Shannon Gallagher had a solid offensive outing, scoring four goals while also picking up two draw controls and two ground balls. Logan McCarthy added two goals while Hayley Krause and Danielle Ellis each scored once. Krause also notched four draw controls and two ground balls. Goalie Alaina Girani recorded 10 saves while allowing only four goals in the victory.
The first half was very low scoring. Gallagher scored the first goal for the Eagles less than three minutes into the contest. It looked as though Kristen Shriver had put the Eagles up two, but was whistled for a dangerous follow-through, negating the goal.
Gallagher gave Winthrop a two-goal edge with 16:57 left in the first half on an unassisted tally. Less than two minutes later, the Chanticleers finally beat Alaina Girani to pull within 2-1. Gallagher was the only offense the Eagles got in the first half as she put Winthrop up 3-1 with 10:42 remaining, a lead they took into the half.
Gallagher continued her scoring streak to start the second half, netting her fourth of the game with 3:12 gone in the half, putting Winthrop up 4-1. Less than a minute later, Krause put the Eagles up 5-1 with her second goal of the season.
Coastal pulled one back pulled one back with 24:37 remaining before Ellis and McCarthy scored back-to-back goals for the Eagles, putting Winthrop up 7-2 with 20:12 on the clock. The Chanticleers tried to mount some momentum with goals with 18:29 and 9:50 remaining, but couldn’t get any closer than 7-4. McCarthy netted one final goal from Shriver with 3:58 left to give the Eagles the 8-4 victory.
Winthrop and High Point will meet on Saturday at noon at Eagle Field.
This story was originally published May 5, 2016 at 8:47 PM with the headline "Winthrop women’s lacrosse advances to Big South tournament championship."