The High Point women's soccer team made a triumphant return home on Wednesday night earning a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Radford in the squad's first appearance at Albion Millis Stadium in exactly a month.
The Panthers (7-3-0, 2-0-0 Big South), who spent the last month playing seven consecutive matches on the road, battled through a sluggish start to eventually earn the victory over the Highlanders (3-8-0, 1-2-0 Big South). The win marked the third in a row for HPU while Radford dropped its seventh consecutive road match and fifth one-goal loss of the season.
"It was great to finally play back at home," said HPU head coach Michelle Rayner. "However, I felt like we may have played a bit too relaxed in the opening half. I was proud of how we stepped things up in the second half and eventually finished a scoring opportunity. Despite the slow start, I thought we gave good effort for the entire 90 minutes. This was an important victory at home."
The two squads went back-and-forth at each other in the opening stanza with both teams failing to capitalize on scoring chances. Goalkeepers Erica Brockmyer (HPU) and Annaliese Yoder (RU) each recorded four saves each in a first half that featured a total of 19 shots. The Panthers saw a pair of scoring chances rattle off the post in the period.
"We got ourselves into good scoring positions, but just ended up having a touch of bad luck around the net," added Rayner. "Finishing our opportunities is still an area of work for us. I was excited to see Traci Andersen finally get a ball into the net for us."
Andersen, a junior forward, scored what proved to be the game winning goal at the 57:43 mark. She collected a deflected rebound off a shot by teammate Beckie Lesh in front of the net and pushed it past the Radford keeper on the left side. The goal was Andersen's team-leading eighth of the season and also marked her fourth game winning score this year.
For the game, High Point recorded a 20-13 edge in total shots including an 8-5 advantage in shots on goal. HPU also doubled up the Highlanders in corner kicks, 8-4. Brockmyer recorded her third shutout and improved to 5-1-0 on the year between the pipes for the Panthers.
High Point returns to a familiar place – the road – for its next two matches as the Panthers play at Winthrop on Saturday afternoon then visit Charleston Southern on Oct. 8.
