CLINTON, S.C. – The High Point University men's soccer team played for former Panther Holden Trent Saturday night, defeating Presbyterian College, 2-1, with heavy hearts. This is the Panthers' 10th win in a row, remaining undefeated in conference play as their last road loss in the Big South came in September of 2016.
Site: Martin Stadium
Score: High Point 2, Presbyterian 1
Records: High Point (10-2-2, 6-0-0), Presbyterian (4-7-2, 1-4-1)
Head Coach Zach Haines: "I'm humbled right now because I just watched one of the most remarkable things I've ever seen in my career. A team full of guys that played for something bigger than themselves. They did it in the most difficult circumstances and to be able to come here and get the result that they did was amazing. Everybody involved with our program knows that this was the hardest week that we'll ever face. We are all in a tough spot right now. We're all hurting, but they played for Holden. They played for Holden's family tonight and I'm just in awe of this group; they're so special."
High Point dominated time of possession in the first five to 10 minutes of the match as the Panthers were able to create a few chances off corner kicks as
Lukas Kamrath and
Alfred Baafi both got shots off. In the 18th minute,
Ross Johnstone scored his fifth goal of his campaign to put HPU ahead 1-0.
Beau Yantz and
Brendan Krueger were awarded with the assists as Yantz and Krueger passed it back and forth before Yantz found Johnstone at the top of the box. Johnstone was able to take a strong strike that was lasered past the diving Blue Hose keeper.
Just a few minutes later, HPU extended the lead to two as Kamrath netted his first career goal off a flick header assisted by
Jefferson Amaya. Kamrath barely had to put in much effort to get a head on the incoming corner as he kept both feet on the ground with the help of a perfect ball from Amaya to extend the lead for High Point in the 24th minute.
The Blue Hose broke into the Panther lead with a late goal in the 43rd minute to head into the break down one. High Point capped off the first 45 minutes of play holding a 9-4 shot advantage as the team fired four shots on goal to Presbyterian's one.
Presbyterian came out hot in the second half putting pressure on the Panthers back line. Showing promise on defense and Caron in net, The Blue Hose were only able to get off one shot on goal as Caron made the easy save.
High Point had a few breakaways down field that got away from them quick as the Blue Hose keeper was able to jump out to control the loose ball.
A few late pushes by the Blue Hose were not good enough to tie the game up as the HPU defense held them off the shots category for the remainder of the game. Kamrath's game winning goal in the 24th minute secured HPU's 10th win in a row and sixth conference victory as they head into the last game of the regular season next week.
Up Next: High Point will return to Vert Stadium for the regular-season finale as the Panthers welcome Gardner-Webb University on Friday, November 1 at 7:00 p.m.
#GoHPU
