WILSON, N.C. – The Barton women's lacrosse team (10-7) held off Southern Wesleyan (6-12), 14-11, in the Quarterfinal Round of the 2022 Conference Carolinas Championship Monday afternoon at Truist Stadium and Electric Supply Company Field. The Bulldogs are the third seed in the tournament while the Warriors were seeded sixth.
Barton junior midfielder
Samantha Diaz (Apex, N.C.) scored three times and sophomore attacker
Sydney Quinn (Fuquay-Varina, N.C.) added two goals and a pair of assists as the Bulldogs defeated the Warriors for the second time this year. Quinn has a team-leading 40 goals on the season.
Southern Wesleyan, which lost by 12 goals to Barton a month ago on this same field, kept the contest much closer this time around. The Warriors were led by the duo of Kelsey Hawkins (Simpsonville, S.C.) and Tabitha Beecher (Roanoke, Va.), who combined for nine goals. Hawkins scored a match-high five goals while Beecher scored four times in the setback.
Barton jumped out to a 3-0 advantage early in the first period and was able to withstand several Southern Wesleyan runs to stay ahead the rest of the way. In goal, Barton freshman
Olivia LaValle (Peabody, Mass.) earned the win after stopping 11 shots while Southern Wesleyan's Kaeleigh McDaniel (Saint Augustine, Fla.) suffered the loss despite 14 saves.
Barton will now advance to the semifinals of the league tournament and will take on second-seeded Belmont Abbey (10-7) on Thursday afternoon at 3:00 p.m., at Pepsi Stadium on the campus of North Greenville University in Tigerville, S.C.
