BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Campbell will be seeded third, facing No. 2 seed Furman on Friday, May 5, as the Camels open play in the 2023 Big South Lacrosse Championship. The Camels and Paladins will square off at 7:00 p.m. at Five Star Stadium in Macon, Ga., hosted by top-seeded Mercer.
Mercer, the league's regular season champion and tournament host, will welcome No. 4 seed High Point at 4:00 p.m. on Friday.
The Bears finished the 2023 regular season at 15-2 overall and 9-0 in Big South games, while Furman (10-7), Campbell (11-6) and High Point (8-9) finished in a three-way tie for second at 7-2 in the league. Conference tie-breaker policy was determined by RPI, with Furman taking the No. 2 seed at 63, Campbell at No. 3 at 66 and, finally, HPU at No. 4 at 69.
Each match of the four-team championship tournament will be carried on ESPN+. The winner of Sunday's 12:00 p.m. title game will receive the Big South Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Against the field, Campbell
defeated Furman on the road 9-8 earlier this season, while falling to
High Point 15-14 and
Mercer 14-11 last week.
For the season, Campbell leads NCAA Division I in both ground balls (21.24) and caused turnovers (14.29) per game, while ranking either first or second in the Big South in 10 team categories.
Individually,
Rasa Welsh leads Campbell with 81 points, becoming the third Camel with 80 or more points in a single season, logging on 37 goals and 44 assists, while
Sam Bischoff has totaled 59 points on 49 goals and 10 assists with 72 draw controls.
Joslin Hanbury (32), Heath (32) and Ohlmann (31) have also registered more than 30 goals this season.
Defensively,
Rebekah Taylor has registered 33 ground balls with a school single season record 34 caused turnovers, while
Shae Fitzgerald has tallied 32 caused turnovers with 44 ground balls.
Chandler Stewart also owns a school record 55 ground balls this season with 31 caused turnovers.
2023 BIG SOUTH LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIP
Semifinals – Friday, May 5
No. 1 Mercer vs. No. 4 High Point – 4:00 p.m.
No. 2 Furman vs. No. 3 Campbell – 7:00 p.m.
Championship – Sunday, May 7
1/4 Winner vs. 2/3 Winner, 12:00 p.m.
