HIGH POINT, N.C. — Four second-half goals propelled the High Point University women's soccer team to a dominating 5-1 victory over UNC Asheville on Senior Day Saturday to cap the regular season.
Senior
Ella Vaughn netted her first collegiate hat trick, while fellow senior
Alex DePerno dished out her second three-assist career game en route to the team's best regular-season finish since 2021.
Amelia Courbron also reached a new career high with two assists.
Now, the Panthers head into the Big South Conference Tournament as the No. 2 seed, which means they have a bye week before playing in the semifinals on Thursday, November 7 at the Sportsplex in Matthews, N.C.
Head Coach Aaron McGuiness: "There was some emotion from Senior Day with this being their last game at home, so we were a little flat to start. In the second half, we were pretty clear with the message that we wanted to see a big change and they came out and executed. It was nice to see the set pieces that we have been working on come to fruition. I'm super happy for Ella's performance, and all the seniors to get this win today and finish the regular season strong. We now have a bye going into the tournament and have to reset for the playoffs, which is a new season."
SITE: Vert Stadium
SCORE: High Point 5, UNC Asheville 1
RECORDS: High Point (8-6-3, 5-2-1), UNC Asheville (3-11-1, 1-4-0)
The Panthers had a slow start, heading into half with the score knotted at 1-all, but it didn't take long to change the script.
Vaughn, who scored the first-half goal on a corner kick in the 38th minute, did the same thing to start the second-half scoring. The senior's standout night kept building when she netted her third goal in the 80th minute to reach her first collegiate hat trick in her final regular-season game. All three goals came on a cornerkick as the Panthers had 14 attempts.
DePerno assisted on the first, while sophomore
Amelia Courbron assisted on the second.
Megan Garmey fed the corner-kick ball to DePerno to set up the double-assist on the third in the 80th minute.
Sandwiched in-between Vaughn's second and third goal, was a score from
Sabba Haghgoo via Courbron's second assist. In the 81st minute, senior
Emily Mashinski joined the scoring as DePerno hit her in stride down the right side for the team's first non-set piece goal.
Aubrey McKessy earned her eighth win in goal with a save, while senior
Isabelle Lee finished the final nine minutes in the net.
Before kickoff, the Panthers recognized 11 seniors, who have impacted the program on and off the field and played in their final game at Vert Stadium. In numerical order:
Ella Vaughn,
Alex DePerno,
Carly Smith,
Lilly Neubauer,
Emily Mashinski,
Shannon McGovern,
Megan Garmey,
Lindsey DeHaven,
Axelle Touzeau,
Tessa Carlin and
Isabelle Lee.
#GoHPU
