LIVE STATSLIVE VIDEOHIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men's soccer team will open the 2015 season on the road with a game at UNC Wilmington on Friday, Aug. 28, at 7 p.m. This is the second-straight season that the Panthers and Seahawks have met to open the season.
High Point was picked to finish third in the Big South Preseason Poll, slotting in behind defending tournament champion Coastal Carolina and Winthrop. Yearwood was also named the Big South Preseason Co-Defensive Player of the Year.
The Panthers returns seven starters from its 2014 team that finished with a 10-8-2 overall and 6-2-1 in the Big South, including All-Conference selections Yearwood,
Ebe Kudolo and
Renato Punyed.
High Point played two exhibition matches in preparation for the season, falling at Marshall by a score of 1-0 and at Appalachian State by a score of 5-1. Sophomore and leading returning scorer
Avery Ryan notched HPU's lone goal of the preseason.
UNC Wilmington was picked to finish second in the Colonial Athletic Association Preseason Poll, just behind Delaware. The Seahawks finished in a tie for first in the CAA last season with a 13-5-2 overall record and a 5-2-1 mark in conference play. The team advanced to the NCAA Tournament where it picked up a home win over Bucknell before falling in the second round at Virginia.
The Seahawks lose four of their top five scorers from last season, returning only senior forward Colin Bonner who had 12 points son four goals and four assists. Bonner was one of three UNCW players named to the 2015 Preseason All-CAA team along with junior goalkeeper Sean Melvin and sophomore defender Brayden Smith. Melvin started 14 games for Wilmington last season, finishing with a 10-3-1 record, a 0.95 goals-against average and a .708 save percentage.
UNC Wilmington bested the top two teams in the Big South Preseason Poll in exhibition action, beating Coastal Carolina by a score of 2-1 and Winthrop by a score of 3-2. Senior forward Nathaniel Goodwin has scored four of UNCW's five goals in preseason.
High Point is 5-8-0 in 13 all-time meetings with UNC Wilmington. The two teams met at Vert Stadium to open the 2014 season with the Seahawks taking the win by a 2-0 scoreline. The Panthers' last win over UNCW came in back in 2001 when HPU picked up a 2-1 win in Wilmington, N.C.
#GoHPU
