BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Big South leading Campbell heads on the road for the final time in the 2023 regular season, traveling to Winthrop on Saturday, April 22. The opening draw is set for 1:00 p.m. at Eagle Field.
The Camels are 10-4 on the season and 6-0 in Big South play, winners of six straight games, sitting on top of the conference standings along with Mercer (12-2, 6-0 Big South).
With a win, Campbell will set a new school record for victories in a single season, and match a school record for consecutive wins with seven, set just last season. This is the fourth time in program history that the Camels have reached double figure wins (2016, 2017, 2022, 2023).
Last time out, CU downed visiting Longwood 18-10 behind
Rasa Welsh's seven points. Campbell built a 13-5 lead at the break on first half hat tricks from
Kyla Azzato and
Ally Heath, holding on for the eight goal victory, its sixth home win this season.
Welsh picked up seven points for the second straight game to match a career high, collecting three goals and four assists, while Heath scored a game-high four goals. Azzato also notched three goals, while
Olivia Ohlmann and
Sam Bischoff both added three points apiece.
Rebekah Taylor and
Shae Fitzgerald both registered four caused turnovers, while Fitzgerald picked up five ground balls.
Katie Ochall tallied three ground balls, adding a caused turnover and five draw controls.
Emma Strickland, meanwhile, made eight saves and logged four ground balls.
On the season, Welsh leads the Camels with 64 points on 27 goals and 37 assists, while
Sam Bischoff owns 52 points on 43 goals and nine assists. Heath (28),
Joslin Hanbury (25) and Ohlmann (24) have also registered more than 20 goals so far this season.
Defensively, Taylor has registered 29 ground balls with 28 caused turnovers, while Fitzgerald, named the Big South's Defensive Player of the Week for the
third time this season on Tuesday, has tallied 27 caused turnovers with 39 ground balls.
Chandler Stewart also owns a team-best 47 ground balls with 26 caused turnovers.
Those marks help the CU defense lead NCAA Division I in both ground balls (22.14) and caused turnovers (14.29) per game.
Winthrop is 3-10 on the season and 0-6 in Big South matchups this season, dropping seven straight overall, including a 17-7 loss at Radford last week. The Eagles are led by Ellie Dutton's 33 points on 22 goals and 11 assists. Molly Dankowski and Grayson McKenzie also own 22 goals, with Dankowski adding a team-high 21 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers.
Winthrop leads the all-time series against CU 6-4, but the Camels have taken the last two meetings, including last season's 17-10 decision in Buies Creek.
Following Saturday's contest, Campbell returns home for the final two games of the 2023 regular season, hosting High Point on Wednesday, April 26, and fellow Big South unbeaten Mercer on Saturday, April 29.
The 2023 Big South Championship is set for May 5-7, to be played at the tournament's to be determined No. 1 seed.
