BOX SCORE

Freshman Janay Whittaker (Stone Mountain, Ga./Peideia) scored her second goal in as many games to lead the High Point University women's soccer team to a 1-0 win over Radford in the team's final home game of the season Monday night. With the win, the Panthers improve to 3-3-1 in the Big South and clinch a spot in the Big South Conference Tournament.

“We are very excited about the win tonight, it is another big time win for us,” said head coach Marty Beall. “We talked about the importance of this weekend, about getting six points and the girls rose to the occasion. I am also very excited about getting the shutout against a very dangerous Radford team.”

Whittaker's game winner came in the 83rd minute when she blocked an attempted clearance inside the 18 and ripped a hard shot from the center of the area to the left side of goal. The ball bounced off the post and into the goal to give HPU the 1-0 lead. The clearance by the Radford defense came after junior Sara Rager (Silver Spring, Md./Paintbranch) had a header off a corner saved and junior Jillie Johnston's (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) shot on the rebound was blocked.

“The great thing about Janay is that she is very resilient,” said Beall. “She never stops working, she just keeps pushing through. Because of her hard work all season, she is being rewarded right now with back-to-back game-winning goals.”

The Panthers dictated the action for much of the first half, outshooting the Highlanders 12-4 and holding a 4-3 edge in corner kicks but the two teams entered the break still deadlocked at 0-0. 

Senior goalkeeper Marisa Abbott (Troy, N.Y./Tamarac) made five saves to earn her second straight shutout and her fifth of the season. The Troy, N.Y., native tied her own single-season record for shutouts, which she set in 2007 and tied in 2008. The HPU defense has recorded four shutouts against Big South opponents this season and has allowed just five goals in seven conference matches for a 0.69 goals-against average.

High Point took a season-best 24 shots in the game, including seven on frame, while holding Radford to just seven shots. The Panthers also more than doubled RU in corner kicks, taking eight to Radford's three.

With their home schedule finished, the Panthers will hit the road for the final two games of the regular season. HPU will play Presbyterian on Oct. 30 before concluding the regular season at UNC Asheville on Nov. 1.