#3 Wofford Gets Past #6 Longwood, 13-7 to Advance to Semifinals
By Wofford Athletics
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford College women's lacrosse team advanced to the Big South Tournament semifinals after taking down the Longwood Lancers, 13-7, on Tuesday evening in Gibbs Stadium. Wofford was able to capitalize on a strong offensive start, scoring nine goals in the first half, to subdue the Lancers. The Terriers held Longwood to less than ten goals in both games this season.
"I think that we went into [tonight] knowing it wasn't going to be as easy as it was the first time we played them," said head coach
Jessie Aguglia. "They came out and they had a great game plan against us. I think we executed the things that we needed to do well. After that first quarter, just kind of settled in, let the emotions pass us. And then I think we had a really good game."
Wofford (9-9, 6-2) was led by a career-high seven points from
Olivia Graebner, including five goals and two assists.
Katie Brosseau was right behind her with five points off two goals and three assists.
Carlie Cutinella added two goals and an assist while
Mia Leon had two of her own. The Terriers held the shot advantage, 37-16. Longwood picked up 24 ground balls, while Wofford grabbed 30, with
Brooke Meltcher picking up seven. Wofford caused 15 turnovers to the Lancers' eight, with Graebner causing five. The Terriers were dominant off the draw, grabbing 15 to Longwood's seven, with Vivian Choimento grabbing 10 draw controls.
The Lancers scored within the first two minutes to open scoring in the game. This set forth a back-to-back-back scoring sequence featuring two unassisted goals from Olivia Grabener and a goal from Longwood to keep the game tied at 2-2 in the first five minutes.
Katie Brosseau gave the Terriers their first lead of the day with
Carlie Cutinella finding her on a counterattack. Cutinella pushed the lead further with two goals in the next three minutes, with assists from Graebner and Brosseau. Longwood was able to end the scoring run, but
Mia Leon brought the Terriers back to their three-goal lead to close out scoring for the first quarter, 6-3.
The Lancers struck within 30 seconds to put pressure on the Terriers. Longwood pushed even closer with nine minutes left to play in the half with a woman-up goal. It took Wofford until 2:32 was left to play in the half to find a goal for the quarter, with Brosseau finding Leon. Brosseau equaled out the scoring in the quarter one minute later, but Graebner gave the Terriers a 9-5 edge with a goal in the final 30 seconds of the half.
McKenzie Moeller kept things rolling for the Terriers in the second half, scoring within one minute.
Kaitlyn Bellanca and Graebner added goals before the Lancers could cut the Terriers' six-goal scoring streak in the final two minutes of the quarter. Wofford went into the final quarter with a 12-6 advantage. The Lancers found the net first after two minutes, but
Emma Stalteri was able to nullify their goal thirty seconds later. The Terriers were able to hold off Longwood for the remainder of the game to advance to the Big South Tournament semifinals with a final margin of 13-7.
The Terriers will travel to Macon, Georgia, for the semifinals of the Big South Tournament on Friday, May 1. No. 3 Wofford will face the No. 2 High Point Panthers at 7 p.m. with all action available on ESPN+.