A slow start proved too much for the High Point women's soccer team to overcome in their 3-1 Big South Conference loss at Winthrop on Saturday afternoon.
For the Panthers (7-4-0, 2-1-0 Big South) the loss marked their first in league action. With the victory, Winthrop improved to 6-4-1 overall and 1-1-0 in conference action.
The Lady Eagles got on the board quickly when forward Ashley Abood collected a pass from teammate Allison Stoltz and squirted through the hands of HPU keeper Erica Brockmyer just 46 seconds into the contest.
Four minutes later (4:44), Winthrop pushed the lead to 2-0 when Jennifer Hensley buried a shot in the upper left hand corner from 25 yards out off a back pass from Erin Foote.
The two teams settled into a back-and-forth contest over the remaining 40 minutes of the opening half with both squads missing on several scoring opportunities. Winthrop outshot High Point, 12-6, in the period.
"It was definitely a disappointing outcome," said first-year HPU head coach Michelle Rayner. "We let a good opportunity slip away today. Our focus in practice is always to have a consistent effort and we did not do that in the game. We can't afford to get off to a slow start against any team, especially in conference play. Hopefully, we'll learn from this and have a more consistent effort next Saturday."
High Point wasted little time getting the ball rolling in the second half as sophomore Karolina Straby cut the Panther's deficit in half with a scoring shot just over two minutes into play (47:30) beating the WU keeper in a one-on-one situation. The goal was her fourth goal of the season.
The Panthers continued to pressure the Lady Eagles in the offensive zone but were never able to score the equalizer. Winthrop added a late insurance goal at 83:08 when Chelsea White outraced an HPU defender on a quick possession change and pushed the ball into the left side of the goal.
Winthrop finished the game with an 18-13 edge in total shots while High Point earned an 8-3 edge in corner kicks. Brockmyer finished the game with five saves for HPU.
High Point will now get a week off from competition before returning to action next Saturday on the road against Big South foe Charleston Southern. Following the CSU match, the Panthers will conclude the 2005 regular season playing four of its final five games at home.
