ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Win and in.
The High Point University women's soccer team needed a victory Wednesday night to solidify its placement in the Big South Conference Tournament and that's exactly what happened as the Panthers rolled to a 2-0 win over UNC Asheville to cap the regular season.
SITE: Greenwood Soccer Field
SCORE: High Point 2, UNC Asheville 0
RECORDS: High Point (6-4-7, 4-1-3), UNC Asheville (7-6-4, 2-5-1)
Head Coach Aaron McGuiness: "It was a must win with the results that happened earlier today, so full credit to the players. They stuck to the plan and executed it extremely well and got the result that we needed. It was a good game and good result."
HPU came out of the gates locked in. Just 10 minutes in,
Skyler Prillaman Shults found her first score of the season —in her eighth game back after making a full recovery from an ACL injury — and it was executed to perfection thanks to a meg from
Megan Garmey.
Garmey sent the ball into the box as it rolled through the goalkeeper's legs and into the boots of Shults. The sixth-year forward took the ball and gift wrapped it to get the party started Wednesday.
"Megan played literally a perfect ball and all I had to do was touch it in," Shults said, "so props to Megan for beating her defender and getting the ball in the right spot.
"Getting that first goal back from the injury was huge, but this game meant a lot because it put us into the tournament. I'm really proud of the team for working together and putting us in a good place heading into the tournament."
The Panthers built on the goal and Shults' special night didn't stop with her score. This time, she was on the other end as she dished an assist to
Meg Roden and the Aussie finished it up top to give HPU a 2-0 lead at the 22nd minute mark.
"They just knew what it was about, what it meant and what we had to do," said McGuiness of the fast start. "Being on the road, it doesn't matter where you go, it is always tough. They brought the energy; they did their job and full credit to them for sealing it."
Ellyn Casto secured her fifth shutout win of the season, corralling four saves and keeping the Bulldogs from capitalizing on one of their nine shots.
The Panthers had six shots with Shults, who had a team-high three points, and Roden's one attempts apiece being all the visitors needed to get back to postseason play.
"We are going to enjoy this, but we are also going focus on the next game and take it one game at a time," Shults said. "So, scoring and putting away goals was huge for us tonight and we are really excited to get after it at Upstate."
Up Next: The third-seeded Panthers will face second-seeded USC Upstate Thursday, Nov. 2 in the Big South Tournament semis at the Sportsplex in Matthews, N.C. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.
