Carolyn Bader, Jen Evans and Amy Anzovino scored in a three-minute span in the second half to help High Point keep its quest to repeat as the Big South's women's soccer champion alive with a 3-0 shutout victory over Liberty Thursday afternoon in the first round of the 2004 Big South Women's Soccer Tournament at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston, S.C.
The fifth-seeded Panthers improve to 10-8-0 on the season, and advance to meet No. 1 seed UNC Asheville in a semifinal game to be played at 5:00 pm Friday afternoon. The contest will be a rematch of last year's Big South championship game, which HPU won in dramatic fashion on penalty kicks.
Courtney Noel (two saves) and Hannah Nail (four saves) combined for a shutout in goal for the Panthers, who have advanced to the semifinal round of the Big South Tournament each of the last three seasons.
"Our girls made a conscious decision that they weren't going home today," HPU head coach Tracie Foels said. "We made a few adjustments at halftime, but it was just a total team effort. We played well on offense and defense."
Liberty saw its season come to a close and fell to 5-10-2. HPU avenged a 2-0 loss to the Lady Flames on Oct. 12 in Lynchburg.
After a scoreless first half, HPU struck in the 54th, 55th and 56th minutes of the second stanza to put the game away. Bader broke the ice with her third goal of the season off an assist from Lena Svensson for a 1-0 lead. Less than 90 seconds later, Evans (a first-team All-Big South selection) gave the Panthers some breathing room with an unassisted tally (her ninth of the year).
Anzovino, who earned second-team All-Big South honors, tacked on an unassisted insurance goal at the 55:41 mark to become High Point's all-time single-season goal leader among freshmen (10).
The Lady Flames were unable to get on the board despite out-shooting the Panthers by a 13-9 count. Natalie Mayer made three saves in goal for Liberty.
"Our conference is so well-balanced that even with a 2-0 lead, you don't feel comfortable," Foels said. "Getting that third goal so quickly was a big confidence boost for us. We knew Liberty would not quit and they didn't so having a three goal advantage made it easier to play."
"The bottom line is that High Point was just better today," Liberty head coach James Price said. "They scored some big goals in the second half and played better all the way around."
Friday's second semifinal pits second-seeded Birmingham-Southern against No. 6-seed Charleston Southern at 7:30 pm. The winners of both games will meet for the Big South title and the automatic bid to the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship Saturday evening at 7:00 pm.
