HIGH POINT, N.C. - Former High Point University men's soccer player Shane Malcolm will have the honor of suiting up for international play this September, as the Colorado Springs Switchback forward returns to the Guam National team to compete in round one of the 2019 East Asia Football Federation Championship in Mongolia. 

"I'm excited to be back with the Guam National Team again." said Malcolm. "It's been two years since our last competitive outing together and I've been itching to get back to playing international soccer."

The Panther alum had collected a pair of goals in 20 caps for the Matao before the start of this weekend, as he and the Guam National side worked to a 4-0 win over Northern Mariana Islands on Sunday. Malcolm made his first international appearance of 2018 in that match, coming off the bench in the 75th minute, with his last opportunity coming all the way back in 2016, at FIFA World Cup qualifications.

"I was blessed to get the opportunity to play in the qualifiers for the Russia 2018 World Cup." commented Malcolm. "Participating in the World Cup is a dream to every footballer, but even just the qualifiers felt like a dream come true. Those moments are still the greatest memories of my career."

Malcolm and his teammates made waves at the 2018 World Cup Asia qualifier, sitting atop their group through the first four games of round two, before finishing just a few points short of group-winner, and eventual qualifier, Iran.  

Since leaving High Point in 2012, Shane Malcolm has split time between the international stage and the professional circuit, playing for various clubs within the National Premier Soccer League (United States), Football West State League (Australia) and Liga 1 (Indonesia). Most recently however, Malcolm has been suiting up for USL club Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, tallying five goals in 2018 alone, to tie his total from the previous season. 

Between playing professionally and overseas, Malcolm commends that he still has a deep lying interest in his alma mater's performance on the pitch, no matter where he's at. "I do keep up with the men's soccer program at HPU and a few of my professors from the School of Communications." he says. "I had the opportunity to have EJ [O'Keeffe] as a coach while I was there, and he was great, so I know the program is in good hands. They have a very good team. I see they are currently undefeated and I hope they can keep this thing going. I want to see HPU in the NCAA tournament. That was my dream when I was there so it would be cool to see them make history."

As Malcolm looks on to add another chapter to his already lustrous career, he admits that there is still work to be done. "Ultimately, my end goal at the international level is to help Guam qualify for the 2022 Qatar World Cup and the 2023 AFC Cup. Obviously that's a tough task to ask from a nation of 160,000 people but one thing playing at a small school like High Point has taught me, is that size doesn't matter and no dream is too big."

After a 2-0 loss to Macau on Tuesday, Malcolm and the rest of the Matao look to get back on track with a match against hosts Mongolia this Friday at 5 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (Watch).

Fans looking to keep up with Malcolm both on and off the pitch, can follow the former Panther via Twitter (@ShaneMalcolm23).

#GoHPU