WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The High Point University men's soccer team is headed home with a 1-0 victory over the College of William & Mary Tuesday night.
Kaya Ignacio buried one from the top of the box late in the 85th minute to give HPU the lead for good and earn the Panthers back-to-back wins.
Site: Martin Family Stadium
Score: High Point 1, William & Mary 0
Records: High Point (3-1-2), W&M (2-5-1)
Head Coach Zach Haines: "Great team win. We feel really good about the performance and obviously the result tonight. I thought our guys showed a ton of character. We knew that on a quick turnaround coming off a really good performance against UNCG, we needed to bring the same mindset and approach and the guys did that tonight. We couldn't quite find the goal, but they never got frustrated. A lot of respect for William & Mary and for Chris and their program. They defended and played well and gave us some problems at the start of the second half, but our guys hung in there and what a great finish."
The first half was back and forth for the Tribe and the Panthers. HPU had a few close chances but could not finish.
Jefferson Amaya had two free kicks, but nothing got past the keeper.
The second half was more of back-and-forth play between the two teams. HPU had 10 shots in the second half to the Tribe's four. Nothing was falling for either team, as both teams were playing solid defense.
"They never got frustrated or impatient," Haines said. "They kept pushing forward and encouraging each other to not let up and take any shortcuts, just to continue to be accountable that the moment would come. It certainly paid off, great goal by Kaya (Ignacio) and an incredible team performance tonight. I thought everybody contributed on both sides of the ball, it was an intense game. William & Mary were impressive tonight too, and I thought we did a great job."
It wasn't until the 85th minute that the Panthers got what they deserved.
Seth Antwi passed Ignacio the ball at the top of the box, who then deked out the defender to open the lane for a shot that found its way to the bottom left of the net. That was the goal HPU has been waiting for all game and it came with five minutes to play.
Josh Caron made his season debut tonight and recorded his first career shutout. Caron made two saves, both coming in the second half to keep the Tribe off the board.
"Josh did a great job," Haines said. "Josh is a really good goalkeeper, and he deserved an opportunity tonight. Justin has been great for us as well. It was just a simple rotation by the coach just like other positions. Knowing that Josh would step up for us and play well. We want to continue to promote that competition from within at every position if we can. That was the case tonight and had no doubt that he would step up and he made every play he needed to make and was a really good presence for us back there."
HPU outshot the Tribe 15-7 and 3-1 on corners.
Up Next: The Panthers are back at Vert Stadium for Family Weekend and their Big South Conference opener against USC Upstate Saturday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m.
#GoHPU
