BOX SCORE

The High Point University men's soccer team battled Coastal Carolina to a 0-0 double-overtime tie in Vert Stadium Saturday night. The Panthers outshot the Chanticleers 15-8 in the game but were unable to find the back of the net.

I was extremely pleased with the way we came out, with our focus and discipline," said head coach Dustin Fonder. "I think we jumped on them in the first half and were clearly the best team in terms of possession and getting shots on goal but they are a tough team defensively and it was difficult to break them down."

High Point controlled the run of play through much of the first half, playing predominantly in the offensive third and outshooting Coastal Carolina 7-1. Sophomore Kendall Lawson (Virginia Beach, Va./Landstown) sent a shot of the post and both senior Matt Tuttle (Winston-Salem, N.C./Reynolds) and sophomore Karo Okiomah (Austin, Texas/Hendrickson-Pflugerville) had close range shots sent away by the Coastal keeper, Scott Angevine to keep the score deadlocked heading into the break.

The Panthers best chance came in the 64th minute when Okiomah had a breakaway opportunity, but Angevine came off his line and knocked away the attempt to maintain his clean sheet.

Both teams earned chances in the overtime periods, combining for five shots, but neither could put any shots on target. HPU seemed to have one last chance in the waning seconds as Okiomah again got behind the defense for a breakaway, but his shot came a split second after the referee blew the final whistle.

"We expect to win at home, if we expect to win this league we should win at home but at the end of the day that was a tie that we weren't strong enough to get last year," said Fonder. "That was a game in which physically we were over matched and those games gave us trouble last year. It was a comfortable 0-0 tie this year. We have shown that with a year in the weight-room and a year of majority we are more battle tested and ready for those games."

Sophomore keeper Michael Chesler (Highland, Utah/Mountain View) was not tested for much of the night, making just one save while earning his fifth shutout of the season. With the shutout, Chelser moves into sole possession of first place in the HPU Division I record book for shutouts in a season. The Highland, Utah native passed Eric Lona who set the record in 1999.

The Panthers return to the pitch on Wednesday, Oct. 21, when they travel to Raleigh, N.C. to take on No. 14 North Carolina State. Last season, HPU beat the Wolfpack in Raleigh, 2-1, in overtime. The game is scheduled to kickoff at 7 p.m.