CLINTON, S.C. – In a must-win situation for the Presbyterian College lacrosse team at Bailey Memorial Stadium, the Blue Hose stayed multiple steps ahead of their Big South rivals from Winthrop to emerge with a 13-9 victory on Wednesday night.

Defense was the catalyst to PC's second league win of the spring, holding the Eagles to single digits and crafting a lead that reached its apex at six points midway through the 3^rd quarter.

This was Presbyterian's second-ever victory in the series between two warring South Carolina schools, with both Blue Hose wins occurring in the last four years.

Wednesday was a double-whammy for head coach Eric Clakeley's club, who also benefitted from a 9-8 Radford win over Longwood to now sit in a three-way tie for the final seed in the upcoming Big South Tournament.

That positions PC for the season-ender this Saturday at High Point, taking on the Panthers at noon in the hopes of returning to the conference bracket for the first time since 2016.


 
FINAL SCORE: Presbyterian, 13 – Winthrop, 9

RECORDS: Presbyterian (5-11, 2-5) | Winthrop (6-10, 1-7)

LOCATION: Bailey Memorial Stadium


 
NOTABLES

 
- Offensively, the Scotsmen were carried by a familiar face: Emily Currie, who has now manufactured 18 goals in the last four matches after putting up a quartet against Winthrop.

- True freshman Rose Dennstaedt vacuumed a career-high four draw controls to keep the Eagles at bay, while sophomore Madeleine Lowrance delivered her first three-goal outing to help power Presby's attack.

- Two-time all-Big South selection Avery West (who was playing in her final home game along with five others) turned in a game-high six ground balls and four caused turnovers. She needs just three more takeaways to become the first PC player since 2017 with 40-plus in a single campaign.

- Second-year keeper Morgan Thompson received her fifth start of the season and was credited with the W, conceding only four goals in the first 30 minutes before Kayleigh Aitken provided relief and made seven saves to preserve the result.

- Presbyterian's defensive efforts were a big blow to Winthrop, forcing the visitors into seven failed clear attempts. Six other players outside of West registered a caused turnover.


 
HOW IT HAPPENED

 
- The Blue Hose raced out of the gates with five of the first six goals, doubling up the Eagles at intermission (8-4) and leading by at least four points for the remaining 26 minutes of play.

- PC's starting defenders (West, Miranda Castilla, Olivia Ballard, and Melissa Mucollari) held Winthrop to just three second-half goals until they managed to score a fourth with two seconds on the clock.

- Only one opponent in 2026 has finished with fewer goals in a game than what Presby allowed on Wednesday, turning the Eagles over eight times in the 2^nd period alone.

- A 3-0 burst from Currie and sophomore Sydney Howard pushed the advantage to its largest point of 11-5, never letting Winthrop threaten from that moment forward.


 
POSTSEASON RACE

 
- The Big South sends its top six squads to the conference tourney next week. PC is presently in a three-way tie with Gardner-Webb and Longwood for that coveted six seed, hoping to keep their season chugging along.

- This Saturday, the Blue Hose will travel to High Point while G-W takes on Furman and Longwood meets the soon-to-be five-time defending conference champion Mercer.

- Should there still be a three-way tie for the six-seed by the end of the day, the Big South will likely lean on the NCAA Rating Percentage Index (RPI) to determine the tiebreaker.

- This is because there is no clear favorite in terms of "head-to-head results" between the three schools, nor did any of the three obtain a win over any of the five teams ahead of them in the standings.

- Prior to Wednesday's shake-up, the Blue Hose (#124) were ahead of Gardner-Webb in the most recent RPI rankings while narrowly behind the Lancers (#116).