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HIGH POINT, N.C. – The fourth-seeded High Point University women's soccer team will open the 2015 Big South Women's Soccer Championship with a quarterfinal match against No. 5 Longwood in Vert Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 31, at 7 p.m.

High Point finished its season with a 1-0 home loss to Campbell on Tuesday, falling to 11-4-4 overall and 6-3-1 in conference play.

Sophomore Alex Persiani was named the Big South Defensive Player of the Year after finishing the regular season with a 0.42 goals-against average and an HPU Div. I single-season record 10 shutouts. She is fifth in the nation in goals-against average and sixth in save percentage. Persiani is the first HPU women's soccer player to earn Big South Player of the Year honors. The Panther defense is fifth in the country in team goals-against average and on pace to set a new Big South record for single-season goals-against average.

Three High Point players received All-Conference honors along with Persiani as redshirt-junior Kelsey Perrell and sophomore Becca Rolfe joined Persiani on the first team and senior Amy Burch was named honorable mention All-Big South. Freshman Callyn Loughrey was also recognized as a member of the conference's All-Freshman team.

High Point features a balanced attack on the offensive end with 12 players combining to score 26 goals. Sophomores Michele Micciche and Bri Jean-Charles lead the team with 11 points each. Micciche has a team-high five goals while Jean-Charles has four goals and is tied for the team lead with three assists.

Longwood enters the Big South tournament as the fifth seed with a 9-7-2 overall record and a 5-3-2 record in conference play. The Lancers fell at home to Liberty in the regular-season finale by a score of 1-0.

Amanda Spencer leads the Longwood offense with 13 points on a team-high six goals and one assists in 2015. Bridgett Bergquist (3), Olivia Colella (3) and Amber Hodges (2) are the only other players with multiple goals for the Lancers who have scored just 21 goals in 18 games.

Longwood features one of the top defenses in the Big South, allowing just 18 goals in 18 games and just eight goals in 10 conference matches. Keeper Maria Kirby has played 15 games in net for the Lancers and is 7-4-1 with a 0.77 goals-against average and seven shutouts.

High Point fell to Longwood by a score of 1-0 in Farmville, Va., in both teams' conference opener back in September. Bergquist scored the only goal of the night for either squad. HPU fell to 8-3-2 all-time against Longwood with the loss. The Panthers are 11-5 in Big South Quarterfinals with the last loss coming to Liberty in Charleston, S.C., back in 2011. High Point and Longwood last met in the Big South Quarterfinals in 2013 when HPU picked up a 3-1 road win in Farmville. That game marks the only meeting between the Panthers and Lancers in the Big South tournament.

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