An early goal proved costly as the High Point University women's soccer team suffered a disappointing 1-0 loss to Alabama A&M on Sunday afternoon in the finale of the Dafeldecker Classic.

The Panthers (0-2) again struggled a bit on offense as HPU failed to score for the second consecutive game. AAMU (2-0) notched its second 1-0 victory of the season to remain undefeated.

Bulldog forward Brittan Thomas got the games only score in the seventh minute (6:20) on an unassisted goal. Alabama A&M outshot High Point 6-3 in the first half but could not muster an insurance score.

High Point turned things up in the second period as the Panthers got off six shots while limiting the Bulldogs to just a single attempt. For the game, HPU outshot AAMU 9-7 with both squads recording three shots on goal.

"We need to believe that we can play," said HPU head coach Michelle Rayner. "For the most part, I feel like we out-played them but unfortunately we didn't finish some scoring opportunities. A defensive error led to the goal we allowed. We have a challenging schedule and it is going to get harder before it gets easier."

Junior Beckie Lesh led the team with four shots while freshman forward Laura Eldridge tallied a pair of shots on goal. Freshman goalkeeper Marisa Abbott recorded a pair of saves and allowed the one goal in 55 minutes of action between the pipes, while redshirt-sophomore Hannah Nail pitched a shutout in goal over the closing 35 minutes of play.

Junior defender Alex Torriero was named to the Dafeldecker Classic All-Tournament team.

HPU returns to action next weekend at the UNC Greensboro Invitational with matches against Miami (Friday) and Virginia Tech (Sunday).