HIGH POINT, N.C. — Ups and downs happen in sports.

The highs and lows after big wins and narrow losses are expected. The adversity is a given when it comes to competing at a high level.

But what the High Point University men's soccer program faced in 2024 is a moment no one can prepare for. No training can aid the grief of losing a brother, teammate and friend.

It was an unimaginable low the Panthers were faced with when they heard Holden Trent — a beloved goalkeeper who led the program to its first NCAA Tournament win in 2022 while being the highest drafted player — tragically passed away on October 25, 2024.

The news came before the Panthers took the pitch to extend the nation's longest winning streak, a 10-game stretch that featured High Point defeating the nation's No. 1 team Pittsburgh for the first win of its kind in program and school history, at Presbyterian.

"The balance that we showed in those tough moments was just one of the most impressive things I'll ever come across in my time," HPU Head Coach Zach Haines said.

It was an unfathomable situation to comprehend and grasp amid a season that featured so many highs. Even then, the Panthers leaned on each other and used every ounce of their beings to play for Trent and his family.

In that perseverance while wearing a No. 1 Holden Trent warm-up T-shirt and patch on each game jersey, High Point secured its sixth Big South regular-season trophy but came up just short in its sixth consecutive finals appearance.

"It's amazing we even got there [to the championship game] and put the level forward that we did," Haines said, "but also right alongside it, we were doing the most important things in helping each other and the family and friends of Holden. The guys didn't [want that result], and that's how incredible they are as human-beings and student-athletes representing this program. They wanted to do everything possible to finish the season in the best way they could, but they just didn't have it in the tank, and that's completely understandable. The fact that they even made it as close as they did is remarkable considering the circumstances."

The courage and strength of everyone within the men's soccer program was admirable. It was then in which the team became as close as it had ever been, and it's in that togetherness that High Point enters the 2025 season.
 
"I look at it as this season, the guys will possibly be in an even better position because of what they have gone through as soccer players and as a soccer team," Haines said. "The emotional part is a piece of it where they will always be playing for Holden and his family and that just adds strength to what we are doing."

A large chunk of last year's team is back as seven of 21 returners — Jefferson Amaya, Brendan Krueger, Josh Caron, Beau Yantz, Caleb Britt, Nick Herb, Matt Brucker — played with Trent, while junior Anthony Ramirez was on the Philadelphia Union 2 team with him.

Those seven returners were a piece of the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament win, where Trent shutout North Carolina, 2-0, and laid the groundwork for those to follow. They saw first-hand his impact and the results that come with playing your entire career at one university.

"That's becoming more and more rare these days in college athletics," Haines said, "where not many programs either care about having four-year guys; they're not trying to recruit four-year guys, and then if they did, they are not keeping them for one reason or another. So, we do rely on it; we believe in it; we value it, and that's why we have some of the best people imaginable in the program leading the way in guys like Krueger, Amaya, Yantz, Caron and that whole crew — they mean everything to the program."

It's a core group of returners, who have been through the highs and lows, entering year four together. They have put their time in, worked tirelessly and witnessed championship success and program firsts. They have faced the unthinkable and stayed connected while playing for something bigger than themselves that now trickles down to younger and new players.

"We will always play to help Holden's memory live on," Haines said. "I think it's given us a greater perspective and that this program is better than any individual, and I think that's going to make us a stronger team in terms of having success and results. And our new players came to a program that is not just a soccer team that goes out and tries to win games and a trophy. They know they are coming here to be a part of something that is bigger than them and will have a lasting impact on their whole life. That's our mission."

It's the proof of how Haines and his staff run a program, allowing the players to build a brotherhood, write their own story and make their mark on and off the field. They empower each player to impact the team — regardless of his age or class year — and it has homegrown talent staying in High Point and attracting top recruits to come, stay and affect a program that believes in the person first followed by the player's development.

Trent, who developed under HPU Associate Head Coach Josh Gillon, is the perfect example. He waited for his time behind MLS SuperDraft pick Keegan Meyer to only follow him and become the program's first MLS SuperDraft first round selection. Now, Caron is starting in goal after being in Trent's shadow.

It's a process that has caught the eyes of the incoming recruits — routinely taking them from Power Conferences to come to High Point — and one the HPU staff firmly believes in. As they should because the track record speaks for itself. Under Haines since 2019, the Panthers have won six trophies, upset multiple ranked teams, won the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament game while having numerous players drafted and building a connected togetherness.

Haines and his staff trust in the talent they are bringing in, pinpointing training and in-game opportunities that will showcase their elite tools, shore up weaknesses and lean on their work ethic to get better every day.

It's why four days into preseason Haines felt his 2025 team was as far along as any team he has seen come into training. The Panthers are a mix of high-level returners, key transfers — mid-year additions like Daniel Lugo (UNC) and Noah Behrmann (Clemson) as well as late additions in Mo Guettel (Limestone), Zakaria Daaou (West Texas A&M), and Ryan Behrmann (Army) — and true freshmen like Desmond Mensah, Jack Slade, and Prosper Adagani, who will make High Point as deep as it has been.

"We have as much competition for places as we've had since I've been here," Haines said, "and I'm really excited about that because that's how you win at the end of the season. We are expecting some of the new guys to have big roles. Just like the returners who are guys who have been there, done this and that in our program, but certainly in the Big South Conference."

The No. 24-ranked Panthers' talent, depth, competition and fitness level is at an all-time high with the season set to begin against No. 14/25 Georgetown on Thursday, August 21 at 7 p.m.

It's the first matchup of two top-ranked home games the Panthers have scheduled as the other is versus No. 2 Marshall on September 9. It signals the evolution of the High Point program and being able to host the two biggest games — against former national champions — any program ever has on campus.

"We are bringing those teams here not just because it's nice to have that on the schedule," Haines said, "but because we feel like we belong. We've shown we belong. We should be proud that that's where we are as a program to be able to host these level of games, but we have to take care of business in the Big South."

High Point will take it one game at a time, proving the Panthers are one of the top-tier programs in the nation with the strength of Trent's memory anchoring them to reach the feats he did in Purple & White. 

And it's inevitable that this season will present highs and lows, but in every up and down, the Panthers have proven togetherness will always be the answer.