The cold front that came through Charleston could not cool off the High Point women's soccer team as the Panthers made a single second half goal stand-up for an important 1-0 Big South victory over Charleston Southern (7-9, 4-3 Big South) on Monday afternoon.

With the win, HPU improves to 9-5-1 overall and 4-2 in the Big South Conference and more importantly the Panthers remain in contention to capture a regular season league title. High Point hosts league leading UNC Asheville (6-1) on Wednesday night before closing out the regular season on Saturday against Birmingham-Southern. A pair of victories would give HPU the crown by virtue of head-to-head results.

"This was an important road victory for us," said first-year HPU head coach Michelle Rayner. "We beat a good Charleston Southern team and have now positioned ourselves to accomplish a goal we set at the start of the year."

Junior forward Traci Anderson scored the lone goal in the contest when the ball was knocked around the box following a corner kick. Ryan Hays sent a corner kick to the far side of the goal and after one HPU shot was blocked by a CSU defender, Anderson found the ball in the middle of the box and slid it through for the 1-0 lead at the 62:27 mark. The goal was her team-leading ninth of the year and also marked her fifth golden goal of the season.

High Point out-shot the Lady Bucs in the contest 13-7 including an 8-3 advantage in shots on goal. HPU also earned a slight 8-7 edge in corner kicks.

"We had a good overall performance today," added Rayner. "Our midfielders and forwards created several quality scoring chances but we were unable to capitalize on a few of them. We have to find a way to finish more of those opportunities as we head down the home stretch of the season."

Panther netminder Erica Brockmyer earned her fourth shutout of the season with a pair of saves and improved to 7-3-1 between the pipes. CSU keeper Miki Wilson netted six saves on the day.

HPU will close out the regular season with a pair of Big South home contests beginning on Wednesday versus UNC Asheville at 7 p.m. at Albion Millis Stadium. The Panthers host Birmingham-Southern on Saturday at 6 p.m. in their home finale, which has also been designated as "Senior Day" to honor HPU's trio of senior players – Ryan Hays, Wendy Williams and Courtney Noel.