HIGH POINT, N.C. – It was a top-15 showdown at Vert Stadium as the 12th-ranked High Point University men's soccer team faced off against the 10th-ranked Marshall University on Tuesday night, and the game lived up to the hype as HPU and Marshall ended in a 2-2 draw for the Panthers to stay unbeaten through the first five games in front over 2,000 fans.
Site: Vert Stadium
Score: #12 High Point 2, #10 Marshall 2
Records: High Point (3-0-2), Marshall (1-0-3)
Head Coach Zach Haines: "All I can really wrap my head around right now is that our team was just incredible in terms of their mentality and their resilience. I think that we went toe-to-toe with one of the best programs in the country. Possibly deserved more but just the way that we dealt with it tonight was remarkable. I'm so proud of this team."
It did not take long for the Panthers to get on the scoreboard as
Jefferson Amaya fired a corner kick from the right side in the box, finding
Lukas Kamrath, who took one dribble before firing the ball off his right foot into the back of the net for his first goal of the season in the seventh minute to give HPU the early 1-0 advantage.
"I just think it's a shot of confidence when you come out with a game plan, you execute it, and you get that big moment and that really pushed us on," Haines said. "I think the first goal, we've become accustomed to that, and our team is hungry in the first half to get off to a good start."
Daniel Lugo nearly advanced the Panthers' lead in the 11th minute with a chip shot over the goalkeeper; however, the shot on goal went just a few too many inches to the right to go out of bounds.
Not only did Kamrath come up huge on the offensive side of the ball with his goal in the first half, but Kamrath did so on the defensive side as well with the save of the game, preventing an equalizer goal attempt from Marshall after beautifully heading the ball out of the goal in the 66th minute.
Daniel Lugo knocked in a runaway goal that seemed to give HPU a 2-0 lead; however, the goal was called back by the referees after a handball was called on a throw-in on the other side of the field on HPU, prior to the Lugo goal. Marshall capitalized on the call by netting in a penalty kick in the 79th minute to tie the game, 1-1.
A late goal from Marshall in the 86th minute off a corner kick gave the Thundering Herd a 2-1 lead.
Not even two minutes later, in the 87th minute, Marshall was called for a yellow card, setting up Amaya for the free kick from the left side for HPU. Amaya placed a beautiful ball inside the box, finding
Mo Guettel's head as he knocked in his first goal of the season and the equalizing response score to make it 2-2. The goal was Amaya's second assist of the night.
"It was a big response but like that's what we expect from us because even if we go down five minutes before the end of the game, we know that we can bounce back at any minute and I think we showed that today," Guettel said.
The equalizing goal from Guettel sealed the 2-2 draw on Tuesday night.
"We still got a result against a top team tonight. Not the one we wanted but still a good result in the grand scheme of things so that speaks volumes about where we are and I am immensely proud that that's where the program is. We expect to win big games against top teams and everybody has bought into that," Haines said.
Goalkeeper
Josh Caron was great behind the net as he finished the night with five saves including three in the second half.
With the draw, HPU's second of the season, the Panthers remain unbeaten through five games, which is HPU's best record through the first five contests since 2016.
Up Next: The Panthers get a few days rest before they match up against Central Arkansas at Vert Stadium on Sunday, September 14 at 7 p.m.
#GoHPU
