BOX SCORE

The High Point University men's soccer team extended its win streak to five in a row with a 2-0 win over Liberty in Lynchburg, Va., on Saturday morning. The Panthers record improves to 8-2-1 overall and a perfect 3-0-0 in the Big South with the win.

"We are extremely pleased to be able to pick up a win on the road in the Big South,” head coach Dustin Fonder said. “To do it here at Liberty, which is a very difficult place to play, makes it that much better. I am very proud of how the team really bought in and played hard for 90 minutes today. Our team defending was especially outstanding as we limited the chances of a very dangerous Liberty offense."

High Point got a goal early in the contest when a rebound from a shot by Shane Malcolm hit off a Liberty player and into the goal for an own goal. Malcolm made a good run from the right wing and let loose with a hard shot that clanged off the near post and then the Flames defender on the line.

The Panthers controlled the run of play through the first 35 minutes of the game but the Flames slowly began to string passes together, slowing the game down and holding long spells of possession. The Flames looked to have a chance to tie the game towards the end of the first half, but a header off a corner was expertly cleared off the line by freshman Adam Sewell and the two teams went to the locker rooms with High Point still up 1-0.

Liberty opened the second half on the attack and twice got good looks at net but the first shot was blocked and the follow was saved with a sterling diving stop by junior keeper Michael Chesler.

Both teams possessed the ball well in the midfield in the second half but neither could do much in the offensive third as both defenses stymied the other teams' attacks.

With time winding down, junior Karo Okiomah added an insurance goal with his ninth tally of the season. Senior Scott Rojo set sophomore Shawn Sloan free in the box with a fantastic through ball and Sloan drew two defenders and the keeper to him at the right post before crossing to Karo on the left side of the box. Okiomah hit a rocket past the diving keeper who could not recover in time. Okiomah leads the Big South with nine goals scored on the season.

Rojo tied the High Point Division I single-season record with his ninth assist of the season, which leads both HPU and the Big South.

Chesler finished the game with three saves to record his fifth clean sheet of the season and the 12th of his career, a Big South Division I record.

"We stayed tight in the back and made sure we were organized," Chesler said. "We stuck to our routine because we have been keeping teams out of the net pretty consistantly. To set the shutout record is a huge accomplishment but at the end of the day team goals always come first."

High Point's 8-2-1 record is its best through 11 games in the school's Division I record. The Panthers are just one win shy of tying the HPU Division I record for wins in a season. They won nine games in four separate seasons: 1999, 2000, 2008 and 2009.

The Panthers continue their Big South schedule on Wednesday, Oct. 13, at 7 p.m., when they return to Vert Stadium to play Radford. The Highlanders were a thorn in HPU's side last year, scoring late in regulation to force a tie in Radford, Va., and beating High Point in the Big South quarterfinals.