HIGH POINT, N.C. — Fighting back from a two-goal deficit, the High Point University women's soccer team netted two second-half goals to earn a season-opening, 2-2, draw versus visiting Campbell University Thursday night in front of 483 fans.
Site: Vert Stadium
Score: High Point 2, Campbell 2
Records: High Point (0-0-1), Campbell (0-0-1)
Head coach Aaron McGuiness: "It was a decent result today. We were happy to fight back and show great resilience from being 2-nil down to make it 2-all. Unlucky to maybe not get a third goal there, but we are extremely happy with how we fought, especially in the second half.
Meg Roden did excellent, just coming in and taking those shots with that elusiveness at the top of the box and it paid off."
As McGuiness alluded to above,
Meg Roden was impressive in her collegiate debut. The freshman contributed to both HPU goals as the first resulted in an own goal in the 57th-minute, which was seven minutes after the Camels went up 2-0. Roden fired her first-ever shot off inside the box as it ricocheted off two Camel defenders before ending up in the back of the net.
The Panthers took the momentum and built on it from there. In the 73rd minute, the Aussie Roden one-touched an assist from captain
Fain Buete and snuck it between a Camel defenders' legs that then rolled just to the left of the right goal post. It was the game-tying goal that Campbell couldn't match.
In goal for HPU,
Isabelle Lee and
Ellyn Casto split the game as both logged 45 minutes and allowed a goal apiece. Lee had two saves while Casto had three, including a massive one in the closing minutes to keep it tied.
Roden's 52 minutes led the Panthers off the bench, while defenders
Ella Vaughn and
Alex DePerno each played a full 90 minutes.
Next Up: HPU heads to Marshall University for a Sunday showdown, beginning at 1 p.m.
#GoHPU
