BOX SCORE

The High Point University soccer team scored twice in the first half and three times in the second half to beat Gardner-Webb, 5-0, Wednesday night in Boiling Springs, N.C. Senior Matt Tuttle (Winston-Salem, N.C./Reynolds) and junior Scott Rojo (Houston, Texas/Lee) each had a goal and an assist in the game as five different players scored for HPU.

“A goal we set at the beginning of the season was to make a run at the Big South title and starting out with a road win is a step in the right direction,” said head coach Dustin Fonder. “We are extremely pleased, anytime you win a game on the road let alone a conference game you are very excited about it. That being said I don't think the score line was truly indicative of the game. Gardner-Webb is a well coached team and a good team. We were just fortunate to capitalize on our chances.”

The 5-0 margin was the largest for High Point since a 9-0 win over Randolph College on Oct. 12, 2007.

“It is really exciting when the guys buy into playing for one another,” said Fonder. Our biggest strength as an offense is our depth. It is great to see three of the five goals were scored by guys who came off the bench but we really feel like we have six starters up top.”

The Panthers jumped out to an early lead in just the ninth minute of play when sophomore Kendall Lawson (Virginia Beach, Va./Landstown)dribbled up the center of the pitch to the top of the box and fired a hard off-balance shot which ran into the lower right corner of the net from 18-yards out.

In the 27th minute, freshman Fejiro Okiomah (Austin, Texas/Hendrickson-Pflugerville) pushed the lead to 2-0 with a strong header into the back of the net. Tuttle took a rebound from a Panther corner kick on the left flank and lofted a high curving pass into the box where Okiomah out-leaped two Bulldog defenders to send a powerful header past the GWU goalkeeper for his third tally of the season. 

High Point pushed up on the attack throughout the first half, outshooting Gardner-Webb, 7-3, and putting six of the seven shots on frame. Sophomore goalkeeper Michael Chesler (Highland, Utah/Mountain View) made three stops in the opening 45 to maintain a clean sheet.

In the second half, the Bulldogs came out with an increased urgency, taking eight shots with three on goal in the first 15 minutes of the period. In the 57th minute, GWU lofted a shot off the crossbar and managed to get a foot on the rebound but Chesler made the point-blank save to maintain the 2-0 lead.
The Bulldogs went a man down in the 63rd minute when Zac Tigner was given his second caution of the game resulting in his expulsion. With the man advantage, High Point went back on the offensive with three second-half tallies.

Tuttle picked up the first goal of the second half in the 67th minute scoring on a breakaway as the senior made a well timed run on a deep ball from freshman Todd Ray (San Antonio, Texas/Central Catholic) and beat a diving GWU netminder with a shot from the left side to the far post from about 12 yards out.

Shane Malcolm (Sunrise, Fla./Piper) continued to add to the Panther lead in the 74th minute with his second goal of the year on a header from inside the 6-yard box. Rojo corralled the ball on the left side and lofted a curling pass into the box to Malcolm who snuck his header just inside the near post.

Rojo finished the scoring for the Panthers in the 86th minute with a low running shot from the left side to the far post. Senior Hilaire Babou (Wheaton, Md./Walter Johnson) flicked a pass over the GWU backline to Rojo who beat the keeper one-on-one for his first goal of the season.

Chesler and the Panther backline managed to record the fourth clean sheet of the season despite a renewed Bulldog attack which saw them outshoot High Point 12-9 in the second half. Chesler made five saves in the second period, giving him eight for the game.

“The back four and Chesler were very good tonight,” said Fonder. “I think we still need to get better in that area because while we have four shutouts, we have that other extreme where we have given up three or more goals up in three of the games we didn't have shutouts.”

The Panthers will hit the road again on Saturday when they travel to Asheville, N.C. to take on the Bulldogs of UNC Asheville at 2 p.m.