HIGH POINT, N.C. — The halftime message was received.
Down 1-0 to visiting Florida Gulf Coast University after 45 minutes, the High Point University coaching staff emphasized to its squad to increase the pressure. And that the Panthers did as it was
Leah Malone with the equalizer in the 75th minute to leave Vert Stadium with a 1-1 draw Thursday night. It was the first time FGCU and HPU has ever played.
SITE: Vert Stadium
SCORE: High Point 1, FGCU 1
RECORDS: High Point (1-1-3), FGCU (2-1-1)
Head Coach Aaron McGuiness: "I think we started slow and once we got into the game after about 10 minutes, we started to play our style and it was dangerous against them. The message in the second half was 'Put more and more pressure on them, especially in that midfield.'
"We continued to do that and we had the greater run of play. We were unfortunate not to come away with a win. Sometimes those draw feel like a loss, but very proud of the performance and the progress we are making in that final third."
Every goal scored for the Panthers this year has come in the second half. It was no different Thursday alike the number of shots HPU fired off. Shooting one more than the first half, the Panthers had 21 shots — with seven on goal — compared to the Eagles' nine and five on goal.
FGCU found space in the defense behind its goal just before the first half concluded to go up in the 42nd minute. It was the only score
Ellyn Casto would allow as she corralled four saves to Olivia Molina's six.
The Eagle keeper Molina had an impressive save on an
Emily Mashinski second-half shot that nearly swished through the upper left corner. Molina wasn't as lucky with Malone's shot — one she dribbled and controlled before depositing into the bottom left —that resulted in the sophomore's first goal of the season in the 75th minute, via Mashinski's first assist.
"She handled it very well," McGuiness said of Malone. "She cut inside and hit it with her left foot and that's what she does best — when she's composed and can find those spaces in the goal and just slot them away."
The Panthers' pressure the rest of the way was enough to hold the Eagles back and result in a draw to begin the two-game homestand.
Up Next: The Panthers host East Carolina University for their "Morgan's Message" game Sunday at 4 p.m.
#GoHPU
