BOX SCORE
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The High Point University men's soccer team got a goal from Fejiro Okiomah and staved off the Radford attack to beat the Highlanders, 1-0, in the Big South semifinals on Friday night at Vert Stadium. The Panthers advanced to the final against Coastal Carolina on Sunday at 2 p.m.

"After getting the goal we took a more defensive approach tonight," said HPU head coach Dustin Fonder. "It wasn't the most attractive soccer but it was effective when we were trying to grind out a result. It wasn't our best night but a lot of that is a credit to Radford for having a great plan and disrupting our game. We're excited to be in the final and we fully expect a well-prepared Coastal Carolina team. We're going to do our best to have a quick recovery and get ready for the final."

High Point University improved to 16-3-1 overall while Radford's season ended at 7-9-3. The Panthers won the Big South regular season with an 8-0-0 league record.

HPU had some good early scoring chances with three corner kicks in the first four minutes before Radford challenged with four shots, including a hard free kick from Anthony Payne that HPU goalkeeper Michael Chesler saved.

High Point got the momentum back when Fejiro Okiomah took the ball down the field and fired a hard shot wide right. Shortly after, the Panthers earned a corner kick that Scott Rojo took. The ball went to the far side of the box and was crossed back in to Sloan, who stopped it and gained control. Sloan dished it to Okiomah on his left, who put it in to make the score 1-0 at 16:33. It was his 12th goal of the season and Sloan's eighth assist.

The Panthers had a great scoring opportunity in the second minute of the second half. Ryan Bennett took the ball up the left side and crossed it to Karo Okiomah in the box, but a Radford defender cleared it away just before Okiomah could get the shot off. HPU had another exciting scoring opportunity when Rojo took the ball in on a fast break, but his shot sailed high in the 11th minute.

Radford got the majority of scoring opportunities the rest of the way with the Panthers back on defense, including two great chances midway through the half. The first came when Iyiola Awosika got his foot on a loose ball in the box, but Chesler knocked it down and the defense cleared it away. Shortly after, Bernardo Ulmo took a bending shot from the right side that Chesler deflected out of bounds. Radford had another great chance in the 70th minute when Mike Handlin got a hard free kick on frame, but Chesler came through with a diving save.

Chesler made five saves on the night with the Highlanders outshooting HPU 12-11 in the game. That included a 6-3 gap in the second half. It was Chesler's ninth shutout of the season.

Sunday marks High Point's second Big South final appearance, its first since 2005. It will be HPU's first championship appearance under Fonder's leadership. Coastal Carolina advanced to the Big South final with a 1-0 win over Gardner-Webb on Friday at Vert Stadium.

The Big South Championship game will be televised locally on WCWG and Estrella TV and will be live online on the Big South Network.