Box Score HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men's soccer team ended in a 1-1 draw with the Peacocks of Saint Peter's after a hard-fought battle on the field. The Panthers tallied for 31 total shots, which ties sixth most shots all-time and third most shots against a Division I opponent.
Site: Vert Stadium
Score: High Point 1, Saint Peter's 1
Records: High Point (0-0-1), Saint Peter's (0-1-1)
Head Coach
Zach Haines: "It's a hard one right now, obviously you can see through the stats with the way the game played out. 31 shots to two and 11-2 on corners, and a lot of momentum in the second half. At the end of the day, we need to finish our chances, we need to have more quality in the final third. We also have to be switched on; we can't spot them a goal in one moment where we get it wrong. We gifted them that moment and they took advantage of it and that was the difference. I like my team's resilience, we didn't get down on ourselves, we kept going and we found the equalizer and so many chances to win it. It just wasn't our night, and we'll certainly learn from the first half and make sure we have a better chance to put together 90 minutes like we saw in the second 45."
The Peacocks started the scoring with a laser to the back left of the net just over the head of
Justin Stewart in the 35th minute. HPU held position of the ball for most of the night and created chances where they could. Just about the whole starting lineup gave the Peacocks goalie something to work for.
Brendan Krueger recorded a career high four shots in tonight's match firing two on goal.
Heading into the second half, the Panthers ramped up their momentum, tallying a total of 19 shots. With the help of graduate student,
Alex Abril who is coming off a season ending knee injury last season. Abril put up 10 shots for the Panthers and scored the only goal off a rickashay by a Peacock. The ball found Abril at the top of the box and he rifled it leaving the goalie frozen and the ball in the back of the top right corner of the net in the 67th minute.
"That's the best part tonight," said coach Haines. "There is a lot of disappointment in the locker room and a lot of guys angry, frustrated, upset, you name it. The best thing that happened tonight was
Alex Abril is back, playing soccer at Vert Stadium. He has worked incredibly hard to come back. He has sacrificed a lot in his life to be here coming back for a sixth year. A lot of people would have probably met the adversity he met and would've called it, or they would not of had the strength to push on. He has come back, and he showed tonight that he's capable of being even better than the player he was before he got injured. That's the best moment about tonight for sure."
The freshman goalkeeper,
Justin Stewart played his first collegiate complete game in a Panther uniform tonight. Stewart did not have much action in net, but he came up with a few key saves to keep the Peacocks from scoring.
Next Up: The Panthers look to bounce back next week, September 1 as they welcome University of Evansville at 7 p.m at Vert Stadium presented by Courtyard Marriott High Point.
#GoHPU
