HIGH POINT, N.C.— The High Point University women's soccer team was unable to overcome a first-half deficit Sunday in its "Morgan's Message Game" as East Carolina University capitalized in key moments for the 3-1 victory.
SITE: Vert Stadium
SCORE: High Point 1, ECU 3
RECORDS: High Point (1-2-3), ECU (4-1-1)
Head Coach Aaron McGuiness: "ECU is a good team. We had three lapses in concentration and good teams punish you in those lapses and that's what happened. Stats show we had great run of play with more shots, so that's what we have to focus on. We have to tidy up those three lapses in concentration and continue to go at them and keep growing and producing in that final third to get ready for conference."
The shots were even at half, with each team having five, while the Panthers had seven shots to the Pirates' four in second half. It took over 30 minutes for either team to score as ECU netted a pair over a seven-minute stretch before the half-time buzzer sounded.
For the Panthers, it was
Lilly Neubauer who was the highlight of the afternoon. The junior forward netted her first collegiate goal — via a dime of an assist from
Bri Davis —on a header in the 58th minute to cut the deficit to one. It was her only shot as
Ella Vaughn,
Alex DePerno,
Lindsey DeHaven and
Tessa Carlin all had chances that keeper Maeve English corralled.
"Lilly has done very well in the last few games" McGuiness said. "She's shown a lot of grit and really started to anticipate the game and push herself into the moments, where she's seeing herself in scoring and attacking opportunities and that's just fruit of her labor. Very pleased with how she's grown and developed."
The Panthers didn't get the result they wanted, but before the game, they represented something bigger than themselves in advocating to normalize conversations about mental health within student-athletes. It was the team's "Morgan's Message" dedication game to support those who struggle with mental health and honor those who have lost their lives to it. For more information, visit the Morgan's Message
website.
The players were donned in "Mental Health Matters" T-Shirts — courtesy of a donation from the Mayes Family – and wrote affirmations with chalk on the sidewalks as well as made signs to hang around Vert Stadium.
"Mental health is a huge topic of discussion at the moment and it should be," McGuiness said. "It's an very important thing that people have to come to terms with and continue to provide support with. The message to our team is just making sure everyone understands they are not alone in those moments, and they can lean on us. With our group, they have done a tremendous job — not just getting our newcomers integrated within the school and team but providing that friendship and support so they know we don't just call this a family, it is a family."
Up Next: The Panthers head north for a matchup with UMBC in Baltimore, Maryland on Thursday, Sept. 7 at 7 p.m.
