Box Score BOX SCORE

The High Point University men's soccer team scored four times in the second half on the way to a 5-0 win over Rider at the JMU Comfort Inn Invitational in Harrisonburg, Va., on Monday evening. Senior Scott Rojo and sophomore Shane Malcolm each registered a goal and an assist in the win.

“It was great to see our response after Saturday's game,” head coach Dustin Fonder said. “We had some individual meetings and I thought our guys had some time to let that stew and the result was we came out, jumped on Rider and really had our first team effort of the season. I thought our offense was great but I was still more impressed with our defense. The guys really bought in and defended together for 90 minutes.”

The High Point offense showed great possession and ball movement in the match with five different players scoring for the Panthers and five assists registered on the goals.

“Our entire team played well tonight, from the back line to up top,” Rojo said. “We took some risks that we haven't taken in the past. Our coaches told us to just shoot and that's what we did and good things came from it. On my goal (Shawn) Sloan took a shot and it bounced back to me perfectly. I thought about hitting it as hard as I could but when I saw it spinning I just placed it.”

Rojo got High Point on the board in the ninth minute when the Broncs attempted to clear a ball out of the box and Rojo snared it and sent a rocket past a diving keeper and into the left upper 90 from 25-yards out.

HPU controlled possession throughout the half, putting up eight shots to Rider's one but the Rojo goal remained the difference after 45.

The Panthers doubled their lead in the second minute of the second half when Rojo carried the ball into the box from the left and rifled a shot to the far post which the Rider keeper stopped with a diving save. The ball bounced right to the feet of Malcolm who pounced on the rebound and scored from six-yards out.

Two minutes later HPU got on the board once again when sophomore Fejiro Okiomah hit a hard shot past the keeper from the left side of the box. Junior goalkeeper Michael Chesler punted the ball from deep in the High Point zone into the offensive third and freshman Adam Sewell flicked it on to Okiomah with a header to set up the goal. Chesler's assist was the first of his High Point career.

In the 70th minute, sophomore Shawn Sloan put the Panthers up 4-0 with his first goal of the season. Malcolm dribbled the ball up from the left side and criss-crossed with Sloan, cutting to the middle before sending a throughball back to the left to Sloan who hit it off the far post for the score.

The final HPU goal came in the 74th minute when freshman Alex Martinez sent a short corner to the left corner of the box to redshirt-sophomore Ryan Bennett, who had one touch before slotting it just inside the near post.

Chesler made two saves in the match including a diving stop on a shot from the left to the near post in the final minutes, to preserve his second shutout of the season and the ninth of his career.

High Point next returns home to host the HPU Flash Gordon Motors Invitational. The Panthers will play Georgia Southern at 7 p.m., on Friday, Sept. 10, and Mercer at 3 p.m., on Sunday, Sept. 12.