Box Score BOX SCORE

The High Point University men's soccer team took a 2-0 loss to Kentucky on Sunday afternoon in Lexington, Ky. The Panthers got eight saves from sophomore goalkeeper Michael Chesler (Highland, Utah/Mountain View).

"I'm pleased with the way we started, we dictated a lot of the tempo in the first half," said High Point head coach Dustin Fonder. "It was unfortunate to be down 1-0 at halftime against a tough Kentucky team. At halftime we asked our guys to play a more direct style, which contradicts our usual style, and unfortunately we never really got into a rhythm in the second half."

The game concluded the regular season for High Point, which stands at 9-6-2 overall. With its 5-1-2 Big South record, HPU finished second in the Big South regular season standings and enters the conference tournament as the No. 2 seed. HPU is hosting the 2009 Big South Tournament and will play Radford in the first round on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Kentucky improved to 13-5-0 with the win over HPU.

Kentucky scored the only goal it would need at 28:48 when Josh Albers fired the rebound of a Matt Lodge shot. Chesler made the save on Lodge's initial shot. It was Albers' first goal of the season and he put it low inside the near post.

The Panthers kept it within a goal until 69:10 when Kentucky's Barry Rice scored to make it 2-0 in favor of the Wildcats. Rice headed in a corner by Chad Hagerty into the far corner of the net.

High Point got a pair of shots on goal from both senior Matt Tuttle (Winston-Salem, N.C./Reynolds) and freshman Karo Okiomah (Austin, Texas/Hendrickson-Pflugerville) and one shot on net from Ryan Bennett (Cary, N.C./Cary Christian).

Kentucky outshot HPU 21-9 in the game and had a 10-5 advantage in shots on goal. The Wildcats had 10 corner kicks to the Panthers' eight. Kentucky goalkeeper Dan Williams made five saves.

"We intentionally scheduled this game for Sunday afternoon because it's one week out from the Big South Tournament final," said Fonder. "We wanted to play a tough opponent at the same time of day as the Big South final, because hopefully it will be a dress rehearsal for the championship game."

Entering the postseason, High Point University has already clinched its second-consecutive winning season, the first time HPU has had consecutive winning seasons since 1991 and 1992. HPU's 5-1-2 Big South record is its best since joining the league in 1999.

The 2009 Big South Men's Soccer Tournament will be played at HPU's Vert Stadium. The quarterfinals are Thursday, Nov. 12 with the following matchups: No. 4 Winthrop vs. No. 5 Gardner-Webb at 12 p.m.; No. 1 Coastal Carolina vs. No. 8 VMI at 2:30 p.m.; No. 3 Liberty vs. No. 6 UNC Asheville at 5 p.m.; No. 2 High Point vs. No. 7 Radford at 7:30 p.m. The semifinals will be played on Friday at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. (HPU will play in the late game if applicable) and the final will be on Sunday at 2 p.m.