BOX SCORE

The High Point University men's soccer team took an early 1-0 lead against Radford but a late goal by the Highlanders evened the game up as the two teams tied 1-1 in Big South action Monday night. Freshman Stephen Clowes (Cary, N.C./Green Hope) scored his fourth goal of the season to give the Panthers a first-half advantage.

"I think this group battles everytime they come out," said head coach Dustin Fonder. "You can't question their heart and their competitive spirit. We just didn't make enough plays tonight. Both offensively and then that one big play we needed to make defensively."

HPU jumped up 1-0 in the 12th minute on a goal from six-yards out by Clowes. Freshman Shawn Sloan (Geneva, Ill./Geneva) received the ball outside the box on the right side and dribbled past three defenders to the near post before sliding the ball across to Clowes who tapped it in.

In the 64th minute Radford went down a man when Aldo Macias was shown a red card for a hard tackle on junior Scott Rojo (Houston, Texas/Lee).

Despite being a man down, the Highlanders tied the game in the 75th minute when a handball gave RU a free kick just outside the box. Sophomore Michael Chesler (Highland, Utah/Mountain View) stopped the initial shot on the free kick but the rebound was hit home by Brian Gwanzura.

Both teams earned scoring chances in the final ten minutes of play but at the end of regulation the score remained knotted, 1-1.

In the extra time, the Panthers had the better scoring opportunities as sophomore Kendall Lawson (Virginia Beach, Va./Landstown) had a ball saved on the near post and sent a shot off the crossbar and Clowes had a shot hit off the right post.

"We just told them we had 20 minutes to score a goal, we didn't look at it as we are going to settle for a tie," said Fonder. "We chased the game and went after it. They were resilient, they fought and fought. We were just a half inch off from winning the game two or three different times."

The Panthers will next return to Vert Stadium for to play Big South rival Liberty on Wednesday at 6 p.m. The game is being made-up after the original match between the two teams was called due to weather.