HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men's soccer team picked up three points in the Big South standings with a 3-0 win over UNC Asheville.
Noah Holmes recorded his third brace of the season while
Karson Kendall scored his second goal of the year. Prior to the match, Kendall, along with
Holden Trent,
Holland Rula,
Ashton Perkins,
Sebastian Chalbaud, and
Lalas Ayertey were honored on senior night.
Site: Vert Stadium
Score: High Point 3, UNC Asheville 0
Records: High Point (7-3-4, 4-0-2), UNC Asheville (1-9-4, 0-2-3)
Head coach
Zach Haines: "Happy about the result, happy about the second half performance in particular. We definitely took things up a notch in terms of the intensity. The first half was okay, Asheville did a really good job of coming in with a great mentality. They worked hard, and obviously they're fighting for a place in the conference tournament. It was a challenging first half, we were able to go up 1-nil, and then the second half we were on it. Really, really impressed with the guys in the second half with their response."
High Point pressed well in the opening 15 minutes of the game, as
Jefferson Amaya tallied two shots while Holmes put the Panthers on the board in the 12
th minute.
While HPU tallied seven shots in the first 15 minutes, the Bulldogs held the home team to just three shots in the last 30 minutes of the half.
The Panthers attacked the second half as Holmes again found the goal seven minutes in for his third brace and seventh goal of the season to give HPU some breathing room.
Kendall found the net after a corner kick was cleared out of the box to
Davis Biggerstaff, whose low shot was blocked by Asheville to Kendall for the assist.
Finn McRobb also had a near miss off one of Biggerstaff's corner kicks, heading the ball into the crossbar for his third shot of the night.
HPU tacked on two more goals within the same minute as Biggerstaff found
Beau Yantz in the corner, who in turn threaded the ball through the box to
Aidan Abril for his second goal of the season.
Abril set up
Kaya Ignacio less than 25 seconds later, who fired a shot from beyond the 18 to give High Point the 5-0 win on senior night.
Up Next: High Point hosts Queens (N.C.) on Tuesday night in Vert Stadium for its final non-conference matchup of the season. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m.
#GoHPU