BANNER ELK, N.C.-Junior Kerrie Brown (Irondequoit, N.Y.) had a season-high eight points to lead the St. Andrews Presbyterian College women's lacrosse team to a 17-13 Conference Carolinas victory over host Lees-McRae College on Monday afternoon.

The Lady Knights went on a seven-goal run midway through the game to pull away to secure their first 10-win season as St. Andrews takes a 10-7 overall and 7-5 league record in the 2009 Conference Carolinas Tournament.

The Knights earn the No. 4 seed in the tourney (best ever) and will host a quarterfinal game for the first time on Wednesday against No. 5 seed Queens University of Charlotte at 4:00 p.m. The victory over the Bobcats, who fall to 6-11 and 2-10, also guarantees SAPC its first winning season in the program's six year history.

Lees-McRae made a valiant effort to not be blown out against the Knights like they were earlier in the year taking an early 3-1 advantage in the first four minutes. Brown scored a natural hat trick to tie the game before the Bobcats took their last lead, 4-3, on a goal with 17:37 left in the first half.

St. Andrews held a 7-5 lead but Lees-McRae scored the next two goals to knot the score for the fourth and final time. However, the Knights started their seven-goal surge with the final two tallies of the first half to take the lead for the rest of the game. Brown and senior Katie Wright (Waterloo, N.Y.) scored seven seconds apart to give the Royal Blue & White a 9-7 advantage at halftime.

The Lady Knights kept the moment scoring the first five goals of the second half to double up the Bobcats, 14-7. Lees-McRae pulled to within four a trio of time in the final 20 minutes but they were unable to get any closer as St. Andrews won its eighth straight game over the Bobcats.

Brown – who ranks first in the conference and ninth nationally with 5.25 points per game heading into the Knights regular season finale – increased her point average with her season-high eight points on Monday. Brown broke her own school record of 89 points in 2008 with her big performance against the Bobcats. Brown finishes the 2009 regular season with 92 points and is only eight points away from SAPC's first-ever 100-point season heading into postseason play.

Sophomore Alexis Goldman (Winter Park, Fla.) and freshman Cara Manas (Harwood, Md.) both had hat tricks in the Knights victory. Wright added three points with two goals and one assist. Sophomore Kim McDaniel (Joppa, Md.) netted a pair of goals.

Freshman Anna Egeln (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) had a season-high two assists while senior Courtney Ross (Newark, N.C.) added one assist.

St. Andrews held a 43-31 shot advantage, 46-42 ground ball edge, and 13-12 draw control gain. Freshman Shana Schroeder (Newark, N.Y.) had a season-high seven ground balls. Brown picked up six ground balls.

Senior Eryn McCaffrey (Cicero, N.Y.) notched her 10th win of the season with 13 saves over 60 minutes. McCaffrey leads the league and ranks fifth nationally with a .538 save percentage.

2009-04-14