Matt Tuttle scored the game-winning goal with three seconds remaining in the contest to lead High Point past Big South foe VMI on Halloween night at Vert Track and Soccer Stadium.

The Keydets jumped on the board first when they scored in the 31st minute of play.  Brian Harding took a dribble past a HPU defender in the box and hit a low shot to the near post which beat goalie Michael Chesler for the early lead.  That shot attempt was the only one of the night which hit the target for VMI and their last attempt until their desperation attempt after the Tuttle goal.

High Point stayed poised and continued to dominate the match even after falling behind.  After a couple of near misses, Brandon Young took a corner kick for the Panthers which found the head of Justin Pruetz for his first goal of the season with :33 seconds remaining in the half.  It was also Young's first assist on the season and second of his career.

The Panthers continued to dominate the flow of the game into the second half out shooting VMI 8-1 and 20-4 in the contest.  Their first attempt to take the lead came in the 62nd minute of play when Chris Shrum played a ball across the box which found Scott Rojo open for the shot, but a VMI defender got in the way and blocked the shot.   At the 10 minute mark, Shrum had another opportunity when his header went just high of the goal. 

Just as the game seemed to be headed to overtime, Shrum gathered a ball in the box and played it off to Tuttle who took a dribble to his left and hit a bending left-footed shot to the far left post to beat the diving VMI goalie.  The goal was Tuttle's first goal of the year and sixth of his career.  The assist for Shrum now gives him eight, which leads the Big South Conference. 

In goal, Chesler played the full 90 minutes while allowing just one goal.  Brian Sowell had a terrific game between the pipes for the Keydets playing the entire game and making four terrific saves.  The Panthers held a 7-3 edge in corner kicks as well.

"I feel really good about the number of opportunities we created tonight," said head coach Dustin Fonder.  I think some of the patterns we have been emphasizing in practice were well executed on the field.  However, we still need to be better on the final ball and finish a higher percentage of our opportunities.  The fight of this group as always was to the final whistle and you saw that in our late goal.  We look forward to getting back to training and preparing for Senior Night against Campbell."

The victory improves the Panthers record to 8-6-3 on the season and 3-2-2 in the Big South.  With 11 points, they currently sit in fourth place with one conference game remaining against second place Winthrop.  High Point also continued its undefeated mark at home improving to 6-0-2 at home and is the only Big South school without a home loss this season.

High Point will return to the field on Tuesday, November 4, when they host Campbell in their last regular-season home contest.  Prior to the match, the five graduating seniors (Dan Clark, Michael Earman, Adam Ross, Shrum and Young) will be honored.  Kickoff is schedule for 7:00 p.m.