Box Score BOX SCORE

Freshman Jacky Kessler scored with a header in the 87th minute to break a 1-1 tie and propel the High Point University women's soccer team to a 2-1 win over Towson on Sunday afternoon in Towson, Md. Kessler finished the game with a goal and an assist to lead HPU.

The Panthers offensive pressure earned the team a corner in the 87th minute and junior Jenny Butler hit a high ball to the far post where Kessler was able to outleap her marker and get her head on the ball. The shot was directed down to the ground and bounced into the net past the sprawling Towson keeper.

“To say we spend a lot of time on set pieces would be an understatement,” head coach Marty Beall said. “We have been able to score a couple goals this weekend on set pieces and today Jacky Kessler was able to get up big and strong. It was a great service from Jenny Butler and Kessler did what she had to do.”

With the win, High Point finished its Maryland swing with a perfect 2-0-0 record and improves to 2-2-1 overall on the season. Towson falls to 2-2-0 with the loss.

“This was another great performance by the team here today,” Beall. “I feel like we played very well throughout the game. Towson is a good team and they put us under pressure at points so to hold them to three shots on goal is a testament to our defensive effort. I am so proud of this team and how they never stopped working or believing in each other.”

Sophomore Kelli Joline put the Panthers ahead, 1-0, in the 53rd minute with a shot into an empty net off a pass from Kessler for her second goal of the season. Senior Katie Taber found Kessler with a ball over the top that the freshman just managed to beat the Tiger keeper to and tap onto to Joline for the goal.

Joline almost doubled the lead just five minutes later when she got behind the defense on the right flank. The sophomore outran the Towson left back and ripped a shot from 15-yards out to the far post. The shot beat the keeper but hit off the inside of the post and back onto the field where it was cleared by a Towson defender.

Towson evened the score in the 70th minute when Emily Baines pounced on a rebound off a save on a shot by Sofia Read and tapped it in from just in front of the net. Baines managed to get her foot on the ball through a bunch of bodies to get the goal. The score would remain tied at 1-1 for 17 minutes until Kessler's header sealed the win for HPU.

High Point finished the game with a 14-9 edge in shots and put seven shots on frame. The Panthers also had an 11-3 edge in corner kicks. Senior Andrea Ritchie picked up her first win of the season after playing the full 90 minutes in net and making two saves.

With their four-game road trip completed the Panthers now return home to play host to the ACC's North Carolina State on Thursday, Sept. 8. Last season, High Point lost to the Wolfpack in Raleigh, N.C., 3-0, in the third game of the season. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.