ELON, N.C. – The High Point University men's soccer team upset the No.17 Elon Phoenix at Rudd Field, 1-0, on Tuesday night. This is the Panthers first ranked victory since defeating No. 7 Maryland in 2022 and the 10th ranked result against 28 ranked opponents in 5.5 years under
Zach Haines.
Site: Rudd Field
Score: High Point 1, #17 Elon 0
Records: High Point (5-2-2, 2-0-0), #17 Elon (7-2-1, 3-1-0)
"Great win on the road tonight against a top 20 team in the country," said Haines. "The reason why they're a top 20 team in the country is because they are extremely difficult to play against. They work, they fight, they ask questions of you throughout the entire game. And our guys stood up to the test. We were strong mentally, physically, and we played some of our best stuff and I thought we were good value for the win."
To no one's surprise, HPU took an early lead as
Alfred Baafi scored his second goal of the season to give the Panthers an advantage in the 10th minute. Just a few minutes prior, Baafi netted one, but it was waved off due to a handball call. Baafi got another crack at it as he took the initial shot that was deflected off a defender. He took control off the rebound and sent another shot, but this time it trickled through the legs of the Phoenix and into the back of the net.
Elon dominated the rest of the half in the shot category as they held a 5-2 advantage over the Panthers. The HPU defense and
Luke Snyder in net held the Phoenix off the board in shots on goal as HPU took the early lead.
The Panthers continued to dominate on defense throughout the second half. Earning a pair of corners early created a few chances for HPU but were not able to make anything happen.
The back line as well as Snyder were able to shut down the Elon offense and hold them without a shot on goal all game to earn the victory over the No. 17 team in the nation.
Over the last four games, the Panthers have only allowed three shots on goal while piling on 19 of their own since the match with Florida Gulf Coast. HPU came into Rudd Field and ended Elon's 8 game unbeaten streak at home with a 1-0 upset.
"I think the difference is now we're further on in the season," said Haines. "The guys are very much on board for what it takes to win games at this level, not just compete but to win games. And there was a learning process to get there early in the season and we took all the lessons and now we're applying them, which is great."
Up Next: High Point will hit the road to face USC Upstate in a conference matchup on Saturday, October 5 at 7 p.m.
#GoHPU
