High Point senior forward Wendy Williams scored a pair of goals and assisted on a third as HPU posted an impressive 3-1 victory over Liberty on Thursday night at Albion Millis Stadium.
The Panthers, who were playing for the first time in nearly two weeks because of a postponed game last weekend, improved to 8-4-0 overall and upped their Big South Conference mark to 3-1-0 with the win. Liberty dropped its second straight league match and fell to 5-5-2 (2-2-0 Big South) on the year.
Williams, a native of High Point, got the Panthers on the board first gathering in a rebound off a shot by teammate Traci Andersen that hit the crossbar and then pushed it past the Liberty netminder at the 24:26 mark. Her goal was the lone score of the first half as both team's defenses played extremely well. An aggressive Panther offense earned a 5-2 edge in shot attempts in the opening period.
"After 12 days off I thought we came out with a great deal of energy," said HPU head coach Michelle Rayner. "The momentum and enthusiasm we played with has to continue into our next game."
Liberty's Alaina Hohnarth tied the score at one, less than 10 minutes into the second half when her free kick opportunity from over 25 yards out glanced of Panther goalkeeper Erika Brockmyer's hands and the crossbar at the 52:40 mark.
HPU answered less than seven minutes later (59:26) when Williams corralled a loose ball off a throw-in at the front of the goal box and tickled the twine on the left side for her second goal of the night. The Panthers added an insurance goal at 71:37 as Williams lobbed a ball into the left side of the box that freshman Renee Hitchcock touched on to sophomore Amy Anzovino who one-timed a shot past a diving Liberty keeper.
"Everyone worked extremely hard for us tonight," added Rayner. "However, we need to finish games with some authority and not give our opponents any chances. I did feel that we did a good job of putting balls away and capitalizing on some good scoring opportunities."
For the match, High Point out-shot Liberty 11-6 overall and held a 4-2 edge in shots on goal. Williams finished the contest with five points, nearly doubling her season total of six points.
The Panthers continue a busy stretch of days as they hit the road for a key Big South competition on Saturday at VMI before returning home to face Longwood on Monday.
