HIGH POINT, N.C. – This Saturday afternoon will determine who qualifies for the sixth and final seed in next week's Big South Conference tournament, with the Presbyterian College lacrosse team one of the three schools who could obtain that elusive bid.

The Blue Hose will head to a hostile environment tomorrow at noon for a date with High Point, the same club who has been the Big South Tournament runner-up in each of the past two seasons and the projected 2-seed in this year's upcoming installment.

ESPN+ will be streaming Saturday's showdown against the Panthers, with PC hoping to advance to the postseason for the first time since 2016.

Presbyterian, Gardner-Webb, and Longwood are locked in a three-way tie for the 6-seed going into the regular season finale, highlighting the importance of the HPU outcome and/or the NCAA's Rating Percentage Index (RPI) rankings which may determine the tiebreaker.

PC has yet to defeat High Point since becoming conference mates in the early 2010's, aiming for a second straight victory overall after taking down Winthrop at Bailey Memorial Stadium two days ago.


 
GAMEDAY INFO – SATURDAY, APRIL 25

Presbyterian (5-11, 2-5) at High Point (6-9, 6-1)

WHERE / WHEN: High Point, N.C. | 12:00 PM

WATCH: ESPN+

LIVE STATS: SideArm


 
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS

 
- High Point has certainly had a curious campaign in year 16 for head coach Lyndsey Boswell, going 0-8 against schools outside of the Big South but winning six of their seven league meetings so far.

- HPU's lone conference loss came against the same program that beat them for the Big South Tournament Championship in back-to-back seasons, the Mercer Bears.

- The Panthers are a combined 13-2 in regular-season conference games over the past two years, earning a 20-7 decision against Presbyterian when they met in Clinton last March.

- Anchored by senior attacker Shannon Smith (36 goals, 11 assists), High Point has been a formidable offensive machine in Big South contests. They are averaging 18 points per game over their last five wins.

- HPU took a dip outside of league play on the 15^th, dropping a one-score decision to East Carolina after being outgunned 5-2 in the final period. They would rebound earlier this week with a 13-6 W against Gardner-Webb, getting a game-high six goals by Reese Dowgiallo.


 
LAST TIME OUT

 
- The final performance at Bailey Memorial for six seniors, including two-time all-conference pick Avery West who logged four caused turnovers and six ground balls, Presby led Winthrop from start to finish in a 13-9 final count.

- PC's back line was terrific in the home closer, holding the Eagles to just two second-half goals until they added a third with two seconds on the clock. Sophomore Morgan Thompson played the first 30 minutes at the keeper's spot and snatched her third individual win of the semester.

- Emily Currie's All-Big South campaign continued in full force against Winthrop, producing four goals which gives her 18 over the last five games and 40 on the year.

- Madeleine Lowrance provided some solid backup as well on the offensive end, witnessing her first career hat trick on five shots.

- Presby's .449 shot percentage is the second-highest of any conference institution, with Currie being one of seven players in the division to surpass 40 goals.


 
RACE FOR THE SIX SEED

 
- On Saturday, all three teams that are tied for sixth in the Big South standings will be in action: PC at High Point, Gardner-Webb facing Furman, and Longwood trying to slay the soon-to-be five-time defending conference champ Mercer.

- Should there still be a three-way tie involving those programs, the deciding factor on who gets to continue may be settled by the RPI.

- This is because there is no clear favorite when observing the "head-to-head" results between PC, Gardner-Webb, and Longwood. Additionally, none of them currently have any wins over the five teams in the standings that are above them (another scenario that could have resolved the tiebreaker).

- Therefore, whoever has the highest RPI after Saturday will be awarded the six seed in the event that PC, G-W, and Longwood are all unable to come away with a victory in their respective matches.

- The NCAA released an updated RPI ranking on Thursday, revealing the Lancers at #120, the Blue Hose at #123, and the Runnin' Bulldogs at #131.