High Point opened the men's soccer season with a 1-1 tie against Gardner-Webb on Friday night in the first game of the 2006 JAKO Classic tournament.

The contest started out as a battle as both teams played aggressively, with each team looking to score fast and often.  However, the first period settled down into a well-balanced game as High Point and Gardner-Webb got off six and five shots, respectively, and each team's keeper reeled in two saves for the half.

In the second period, the Bulldogs broke through first as Richard Godfrey and Miguel Pinzon hooked up at the 49:52 mark to score the first goal of the contest and give GWU a 1-0 lead.  On the play, Godfrey hit a cutting Pinzon with a pass at the top of the box who then put the shot past the High Point goalkeeper, scoring his first career goal as a Bulldog.

However, the Panthers did not quit. In the 55th minute High Point's Chris Archer put a shot in the box off a free kick, hitting a leaping Hilaire Babou who headed the ball past GWU's Tyler Kettering and into the back of the net evening up the score at 1-1.

"We played very well tonight," said head coach Peter Broadley. "We were very much improved from last year's season opener. The team seemed to be performing more in character especially on the defensive side."

With the scored tied, both Gardner-Webb and High Point had opportunities to score the go-ahead-goal, but were unable to capitalize on those opportutunities.

Panther goalkeeper, Adam Ross had seven saves on the night while Bulldog keeper recorded six.

High Point will return to the field on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. when they face North Florida on the second day of the JAKO Classic.