LIVE STATSLIVE VIDEOHIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University women' soccer team opens Big South play with a road contest at Longwood in Farmville, Va., on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. The Panthers enter conference play with their best record in program history.
High Point is 5-1-3 following a win over USC Upstate last week. Redshirt-junior
Kelsey Perrell and freshman
Tyler Gordon both scored for the Panthers in the victory and sophomore
Alex Persiani made one save on the way to her third shutout of the season.
HPU features a balanced attack that has seen nine players combine for 13 goals this season. Sophomores
Michele Micciche and
Becca Rolfe pace the attack with three goals apiece. Sophomore
Meredith Dunker is tops on the team with three assists, followed closely by redshirt-sophomore
Bailey Beattie and sophomore
Taylor Romano who each have two. The Panther defense has been very stingy through nine games, allowing just five goals and posting five shutouts. Persiani has played in six games at keeper and is 2-1-3 with a 0.65 goals-against average and a .862 save percentage.
Longwood is 4-4-0 in 2015 with wins over American, Howard, VMI and Richmond. The Lancers are coming off a 1-0 win over the Spiders in Richmond on Sunday. Forward Amber Gustafson notched the game-winning goal just second into the second half for Longwood.
The Lancer attack has scored nine goals in eight games this season. Amber Hodges and Amanda Spencer are tied for the team lead with four points and two goals each. Sophomore keeper Maria Kirby was named the Big South Defensive Player of the Week on Monday after making 11 saves to pick up the clean sheet against Richmond. Kirby is now 2-1-0 on the season with a 0.79 goals-against average and a .880 save percentage in five games.
High Point is 8-2-2 all-time against Longwood. The Panthers have won two-straight in the series, including a 3-0 win at Vert Stadium last season. Rolfe,
Jenny Marshall, and
Paige Rombach all scored against the Lancers for HPU.
#GoHPU
