BOX SCORE

A late goal by freshman Kelli Joline gave the High Point University women' s soccer team a 1-0 win over No. 1 Winthrop in the Big South semifinals on Saturday evening in Radford, Va. With the win the fifth-seeded Panthers advance to the Big South finals for the second-straight season.

“This was a gritty performance by the team tonight,” head coach Marty Beall said. “Playing back-to-back is always difficult. Both teams fought real hard and it was really a tale of two halves. In the first half, we were able to shut them out and in the second it took a brilliant goal by Kelli Joline to crack Winthrop's defense.”

Joline broke a scoreless stalemate in the 72nd minute with a shot from 25-yards out. Joline carried the ball towards the center of the field from the left flank before turning past a defender and ripping a high shot past Winthrop's keeper and into the net. The goal was Joline's 10th of the season, tying an HPU Division I single-season record.

“It felt amazing to score that type of goal,” Joline said. “I basically just turned off a defender, took a shot and I was able to bend it in. It is amazing to be able to help this team. I just want to do whatever I can. I am so proud of how we fought tonight.”

The first half was a defensive affair as both teams remained organized in the back, limiting the opportunities for each squad in the offensive third. Winthrop had the best chance of the period with a shot in the third minute of play which ricocheted off the inside of the left post but did not cross the line. After 45 minute the two teams combined for just eight shots and three on goal.

High Point picked up the intensity in the second half, putting up six shots through the first 25 minutes of the second half leading up to Joline's goal. The Panthers held possession for much of the half, limiting Winthrop to just three shots in the period and none on goal. Junior Andrea Ritchie made two saves to pick up her sixth shutout and 10th win of the season.

High Point is now 10-10-1 on the season with the win while Winthrop finishes the season with a 7-10-2 overall mark. HPU is the lone Big South Regular Season Champion left in the tournament as Winthrop, Radford, Coastal Carolina and Charfleston Southern have all been eliminated.

The shutout was High Point's fifth-straight in a Big South tournament game stretching back through last season's tournament. It is just the second time in Big South history that a team has recorded five-straight shutouts in Big South tournament play. Coastal Carolina had a streak of five-straight shutouts during the 2007 and 2008 tournament.

“This is what we have worked for,” Beall said. “This is why I coach and why these girls have come to High Point. This team has worked so hard for this all year long and it is a great accomplishment. I am very proud of everyone in our program.”

The Panthers will play in their second-straight Big South final on Sunday, Nov. 7, at 2 p.m., when they will play the winner of the semifinal game between No. 6 Liberty and No. 7 Gardner-Webb at Cupp Stadium in Radford, Va. If High Point wins tomorrow they will be just the second team to win two-straight championships. Only Liberty has accomplished the feat, winning in 2001 and 2002.