The High Point University women's soccer team made a triumphant return home on Saturday night posting a 2-0 victory over Big South rival Winthrop in front of a record crowd of 1,493 fans at Vert Track & Soccer Stadium.

The Panthers, playing their first home game in over a month, improved to 6-2-4 overall and 2-0-0 in Big South play behind their third consecutive shutout. The loss dropped the Eagles to 4-7-0 and 0-3-0.

"It was so great to come home and play in front of such an amazing crowd," said HPU head coach Michelle Rayner. "I thought we had great effort throughout the game and really got a huge boost from the fans."

High Point seized the early lead when senior Renee Hitchcock scored her fourth goal of the season and her third in the last four games just 1:36 minutes into the action. Hitchcock collected a pass from freshman Taylor Ray then cut in front of a Winthrop defender before lifting a chip shot over Eagle goalkeeper Dimitra Poulos.

The remainder of the opening half saw both defenses keep the offensive units in check. After HPU's initial strike, neither team was able to get a shot on goal while the Panthers earned a slight 6-2 edge in total shot attempts.

In the second half, High Point was much more aggressive on the offensive end peppering the Winthrop goal for a 9-3 advantage and forcing Poulos to make five saves.

Junior Laura Eldridge blasted a penalty kick into the back of the net giving the Panthers an insurance goal in the 67th minute. Redshirt-sophomore Ashley Holleran earned the free kick for HPU after being taken down hard by a Winthrop defender in the box.

For the game, HPU outshot WU 15-5 with Eldridge leading the way with six shots. High Point junior goalkeeper Marisa Abbott extended her scoreless work between the pipes to three games after recording her third shutout of the season and 10th of her career.

"Tonight's game was a great defensive battle," added Rayner. "I thought we played very organized and maintained our shape well. During several stretches in the game we were very dynamic in the scoring third of the field. This was a good win against a very solid Winthrop team."

High Point returns to the road on Wednesday when the Panthers visit Liberty at 4 p.m.