Despite falling behind early, the High Point University women's soccer team battled for the entire game in a hard-fought 3-1 loss to VMI on Saturday night at the Vert Track & Soccer Stadium.

For the game, High Point (7-4-5, 3-2-1 Big South) posted a 23-12 advantage in total shot attempts but VMI (6-7-1, 3-1-1 Big South) held a slight 9-8 edge in shots on goal. HPU also earned 12 corner kicks to just four for the Keydets.

The Keydets raced out to a quick lead netting a pair of goals in the opening 10 minutes of action. Chrissy Beach chased down a ball that awkwardly bounced over an HPU defender and then lined a shot just under the crossbar giving VMI a 1-0 lead only 1:39 into the game.

VMI made it 2-0 at the 9:35 mark when Sarah Strand found the back of the net with a header off a free kick service from her sister Megan Strand. Keydet forward Amanda Berrios collected the rebound of her own shot attempt in front of the HPU net and pushed it into the side of the net for a 3-0 VMI lead at 32:17.

At the 41:38 mark, the Panthers got on the board just before halftime as Jillie Johnston found a streaking Katie Taber with a well-played service through the middle of the VMI defense. Taber poked the ball past the VMI keeper, who had come off her line in an attempt to intercept the pass. The goal was the second of the season for Taber.

High Point controlled the play in the second half especially in the offensive end, where the Panthers boasted an 11-3 advantage in shot attempts for the period. HPU had several quality scoring opportunities but was unable to add to its final goal count.

Early in the second half, Sara Rager chipped a cross into the box and found Laura Eldridge free for a header that just went over the crossbar. A few minutes later, an HPU corner kick again found Eldridge but this time her header directed low toward the VMI goal was cleared off the line by a Keydet defender at the last moment.

Then with a little over 16 minutes remaining in the game, Courtney Spotts blasted a shot from over 30 yards out that was fisted over the crossbar by a leaping VMI keeper as it appeared to be headed in for a score.

Heidi Beemer tallied six saves in earning the win between the pipes for VMI while Marisa Abbott also finished with six saves in net for HPU.

The Panthers next will visit Big South rival Radford on Wednesday in their final road game of the season. High Point and the Highlanders are scheduled to kickoff at 7 p.m. from Cupp Memorial Stadium.