HIGH POINT, N.C. – The 12th-ranked High Point University men's soccer team cruised to a 5-0 shutout victory over USC Upstate on Sunday night at Vert Stadium. It was HPU's most goals scored in a Big South Conference Tournament game since 2021 — behind four first-half goals and a score in the second half from five different Panthers — to advance the top-seeded Panthers to their seventh straight Big South title match appearance.
Site: Vert Stadium
Score: #12 High Point 5, USC Upstate 0
Records: High Point (12–1-4), USC Upstate (5-11-3)
Head Coach Zach Haines: "We feel good. We're in a really great place as a group on and off the field. I love where the mentality is with the team that you can just tell in the very first minute that we're on it, and we're very much together so that's a good sign for the postseason. The energy was there. The intensity was there. We were winning every first and second ball in transition moments. Everybody's on the same page, and then to get the early goals sets the tone, but I like that we continue to go. We didn't get complacent. We didn't drop the intensity with this feeling 'Okay this is going to be a comfortable one.' We kept pushing to see how dominant we could be in every phrase of the game so that's again, a great sign for the postseason."
It took only six minutes for the Panthers to get on the scoreboard.
Alfred Baafi passed to
Brendan Krueger, who gave the ball right back to Baafi on the through ball near the far post endline. Baafi chased the ball down, chipped it over the USC Upstate defense and into the goal box, directly to the head of
Daniel Lugo who was able to finish it for the 1-0 advantage. It was a double-assist for Krueger and Baafi.
Lugo has scored in 11 games this season and moves tied for fifth in the entire NCAA Division I in total goals, and tied for sixth in HPU history in goals in a single-season with 13.
The Panthers added onto their lead six minutes later in the 12th minute.
Beau Yantz drilled the ball downfield to an open Krueger as he pushed upfield with space, taking a few dribbles before crossing the ball in the penalty box to the left foot of
Celestin Blondel as he one-touched the ball home for his second goal of the season and the 2-0 score. The assist was awarded to both Yantz and Krueger.
High Point was not done extending its early lead. A defensive stop by
Koven Johnson gave the ball right back to HPU and eventually made its way to Lugo, who drew the defense in, leaving Krueger wide open in the penalty box for Lugo to give the ball to him. Krueger took one dribble and then buried the ball into the back left corner of the net in the 20th minute for the 3-0 lead. The score is Krueger's fifth of the season and third in the last two games.
HPU had a couple fantastic opportunities at goal from
Jefferson Amaya and
Prosper Adagani that nearly made the score 4-0. It wasn't until the 43rd minute that HPU was able to tally its 4th goal.
Chris Niblock intercepted a ball, and then used some beautiful footwork to cross up the Spartans' defender and give him free space to kick in the team's fourth goal of the first-half and his third score of the season. The four first-half scores are the most goals HPU has scored before the second half since October 15, 2016, when the Panthers tallied four goals in the first-half and seven overall against UNC Asheville.
The Panthers went into the halftime break with a 4-0 lead as HPU dominated the first half, totaling 10 shots compared to the Spartans' three, and six shots on goal compared to a single shot on target for USC Upstate.
It was a slower second half start from the Panthers' offense, but
Josh Caron kept the Spartans scoreless with a tremendous save in the 68th minute as he dove out to the right and just got a piece of the ball with his left hand to guide the ball out of bounds for Caron's second save of the night.
A free kick taken by
Lukas Kamrath eventually found the foot of
Prosper Adagani, who controlled the ball and used incredible field vision to place a through ball where only Baafi could get the ball. With open space and only the goalkeeper in his way, Baafi tapped the ball past the goalkeeper and into the right side of the net for the 5-0 advantage.
The Panthers controlled the game from start to finish, sealing the 5-0 win for the team's ninth shutout victory of the season and fifth in the last six games.
"I would say not just the back line, not just the goalkeeping, but a very good team defensive effort from back to front," Haines said.
High Point tallied 20 total shots and nine shots on goal compared to USC Upstate's seven total shots and two shots on goal.
"I think we just came out with a lot of energy," Krueger said. "I think there was a lot of space as well going forward so I think we exploited that well. And we just played together really well off each other."
The Panthers have now recorded five goals in consecutive games for the first time since the 2020 season.
"Obviously Lugo's had a monster season, and we have other guys that are really, really catching fire here in the last third of the season: Baafi, Krueger, Celestin, Niblock, Prosper, just a lot of guys contributing," Haines said. "That's a huge thing for us is that we can continue to be a team that's dangerous from a lot of different places and doesn't just rely on one or two ways of attacking."
Caron finished the night with two saves, tallying his seventh clean sheet against Big South Conference opponents and ninth overall.
With the win, the Panthers advance to their seventh consecutive Big South Tournament Championship game dating back to 2019 and their 10th overall appearance.
"The run of seven finals in a row since I've been here is incredible, and it's so much about the people that put all the time and energy into this program because it's hard to do. You know, it's really difficult to do because anything can happen in knockout games and I just love our consistently and that's on the field, off the field, and with our culture," Haines said.
Up Next: High Point will face second-seeded Gardner-Webb University for the Big South Conference Championship trophy at Vert Stadium on Saturday, November 15 at 6 p.m.
#GoHPU
