Greensboro, NC – The Piedmont College women’s lacrosse battled the elements and the Pride of Greensboro College on Thursday and, while the battle with Mother Nature may have been a draw, the Lady Lions took care of Greensboro 9-2 for a win in the USA South opener for both clubs.
The contest was the season opener for Greensboro after the Pride had their first three contests postponed due to weather while the win improves Piedmont now to 5-0 on the season though the Lady Lions also have either lost or rescheduled two contests this season due to weather as well.
Piedmont was led by Logan Ruck’s four goals on the afternoon as the freshman continues to impress as of late having scored 11 of her 13 goals in her last three games combined. Ruck scored Piedmont’s 2nd and 3rd goals in the contest with the latter proving the game winner in the end before adding two goals to her stat line near the end of the second half scoring the pair within 25 seconds.
The win in the cage goes to sophomore Blake Forrest who improves to 5-0 now as a starter with just two goals allowed on the afternoon. Forrest leads the USA South in goals against average with a 3.60 mark, more than three full goals better than the next player in the category.
The Lady Lions scored five straight to open the contest leading 4-0 at halftime with McKynsey Douglas and Logan Ruck accounting for two goals each by the break. Greensboro scored two to make it a 5-2 lead for PC with just over ten minutes played in the second half, but Piedmont’s Maggie McDaniel responded with two straight goals to quiet the rally as McDaniel now has 15 on the season, 3rd in the USA South behind Methodist’s Cassie Walter and Piedmont’s Douglas.
With Piedmont up 6-2 and just over six minutes remaining in the contest, Ruck would score her final two goals of the day with one coming at the 5:29 mark and the other coming just 25 seconds later as PC went on to the 9-2 win over Greensboro in USA South action.
The 7-goal win is the largest margin of victory over the Pride since PC’s program began back in 2013 as the Lady Lions are now 3-1 vs. GC in four meetings including the postseason. Greensboro’s only win in the series between the two came in Piedmont’s first ever season of competition, 2013, when the Pride won 11-4 at Walker Athletic Complex on March 23.
Storm Cuthbert led PC with three ground balls while four others picked up two each. McDaniel was the leader in draw controls with four to her name.
With the win, Piedmont is now 5-0 overall and starts off USA South play 1-0 picking up a win in its conference opener for a third straight season having never dropped a league opener in the program history.
The Lady Lions will be back in action when the team travels to play Ferrum College this Saturday in Virginia. Game time for the March 7 contest is set for 11:00 am with live stats provided by the Office of Sports Information at Ferrum College.
