Senior forward Chris Shrum scored both goals for High Point in their 2-1 defeat of Winthrop Saturday afternoon in the regular season finale.  It was their first victory over the Eagles since the 1999 season and marks only the second time ever beating WU.

Winthrop was celebrating their seniors last regular season home games and came out of the gates early.  A senior give-and-go combination of Otto Loewy to Rafael Araujo who blasted a shot from 25-yards out to the left upper-ninety in the sixth minute of play gave the Eagles an early lead.  It was Araujo's first goal at Winthrop as he transferred in this year.

The Panthers weathered the storm and settled in to dominate most of the remaining contest.  It seemed as they would get the equalizer with 16 minutes to play in the half when freshman Karo Okiomah hooked up with junior Matt Tuttle, but Tuttle's attempt was saved.  Minutes later Sophomore Scott Rojo crossed a ball into the box where freshman Will Stewart was left open, but his shot attempt was blocked by a Winthrop defender.  Finally with 3:52 remaining in the first half, Rojo beat two defenders down the left sideline and served another ball into the box.  This time Shrum was on the other end and volleyed home his first game of the contest.

After a couple of adjustments at the half, HPU came out pressing and had an offensive barrage in the opening minutes of play.  It started with Shrum taking a shot that hit the crossbar.  The rebound found redshirt freshman Michael Stephenson who was denied on a diving save by senior goalie Patrick Mitrovich.  On the ensuing corner kick, senior Michael Earman's shot was again denied by Mitrovich. 

Another blitz of shots came by the Panthers 10 minutes later.  Shrum had a header going to the near post but was stuffed by another diving Mitrovich save and Okiomah had a shot on an open net, but an Eagle defender jumped in the way to deny the shot attempt.  The next good scoring opportunity game a couple of minutes later when freshman Deon Cuffie-Joseph hit a bending shot which took another diving save by the WU goalie.

 Winthrop finally put together an offensive buildup in the latter half of the second frame which took two great saves by freshman goalie Michael Chesler to keep them off the board.  The first came on a shot from the Big South leading scorer senior Daniel Revivo and followed up by another shot from senior, Ben Keiffner.

With 9:53 left in regulation, Rojo beat a defender in the box and hit a curling shot which beat Mitrovich, but another WU player was there to keep the ball out of the net.  Finally, with 2:50 on the clock, Rojo was taken down in the box by a Winthrop defender and HPU was awarded a penalty kick.  Shrum stepped to the line and calmly placed the ball in the left corner for the game-winning goal. 

It was Shrum's fourth game-winning goal of the season and his team leading eighth goal.  His eight goals rank him fifth in that category in the conference while he leads the conference in assists with eight and is tied for third with 24 points.  In the HPU record books during the Division I era, he has 39 points and 15 goals, which ranks him third in both categories.

Chesler picked up the win between the pipes, allowing just one goal and had two crucial saves.  Mitrovich played the first 78 minutes of the game, making six saves for the Eagles, while senior Mike McCullion finished out the game and suffered the loss, allowing the penalty kick goal.  HPU held a 15-6 advantage in shots taken, including a 10-3 edge in shots on goal.  Winthrop had the slight edge in corner kicks, 3-2.

"We are pleased to end the season on a positive note, beating a very good Winthrop team who won the regular season title," said head coach Dustin Fonder.  "Hopefully this will give us momentum and confidence as we head into the Big South Tournament.  This Big South Tournament is a new season, but I also want to congratulate our team on their regular season, capturing the first winning record as a Division I program here at High Point.  That is definitely a foundation we will build off of in years to come."

The Panthers wrap up the regular season with a 9-7-3 overall record and 4-2-2 mark in the Big South.  With 14 points in conference play, they earned the fourth seed in this week's upcoming Big South Tournament, hosted by Coastal Carolina.  They will look to avenge a loss earlier in the season to No. 5 seeded Liberty as they dropped a 3-1 decision.  That game is scheduled for Thursday, November 13, with kickoff scheduled for 12:00 p.m.  HPU will be looking to earn its first ever Big South Tournament title and earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.  This season will also mark the first season as a Division I program that the Panthers will end with a winning record.  Their last winning record came in 1997, when they finished up with a 12-6-1 mark.