HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men's soccer team secured its fourth consecutive outright regular-season Big South Conference title and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament in the regular-season finale Saturday night, playing to a scoreless draw with UNC Asheville, 0-0. The result extended HPU's current unbeaten streak to 11 games as the Panthers are the only Big South team to ever win four straight outright regular-season titles.
The Panthers haven't lost a game on home turf since 2024 (15-0-5) to lead the nation and will have a chance to extend it when the Big South Semifinals begin at Vert Stadium on Saturday, November 8 at 7:00 p.m.
Site: Vert Stadium
Score: High Point 0, UNC Asheville 0
Records: High Point (10-3-4, 5-0-2), UNC Asheville (9-5-2, 3-3-1)
Head Coach Zach Haines: "We played really well tonight, very dominant, and it's just the way it goes, sometimes in our sport; Asheville did a great job defending their box. They made so many blocks, good saves, blocking crosses, fully committed, so a lot of respect for their willingness to do that for 90 minutes; but no issues with our guys tonight in terms of the performance. We're definitely in a good place heading into the semifinal, and we did what we needed to do to win the Big South championship outright for the regular season, and that's always the first goal of the season, so mission accomplished."
In the 15th minute, the Panthers had their first chance when
Daniel Lugo fired off a shot inside the box, but it was saved by the diving keeper Lucca Barros. HPU held possession for the next 10 minutes, gaining four corners and four shots from
Ryan Behrmann,
Lucas Kelly,
Alfred Baafi, and another one from Lugo. The first two were blocked as Baafi's went wide right of the net and Lugo's second shot was saved again.
The Bulldogs countered with a couple chances, including a corner, but were denied by the Panthers' defense. HPU responded with an opportunity on its end, but
Aidan Morrison's header went just high and then the Bulldogs countered with one of their own.
In a back-and-forth first half, the Panthers had seven shots on goal as the Bulldogs had three. HPU had the lone two shots on goal and edged UNC Asheville in corner kicks, five to four.
The game script continued into the final 45 minutes as the Panthers and Bulldogs exchanged shots and corner kicks.
In the 63rd minute, Lugo dribbled into the box and ripped a shot at the near post but it was swatted out for a corner kick chance. The Panthers earned their second straight set-piece off a Kelly shot that was blocked, but were unable to capitalize.
The Bulldogs then countered with a chance; however,
Josh Caron dove for the save to put the Panthers back on the move. Morrison drew a foul as Lugo took the free kick opportunity, which ricocheted off defenders for two more corners.
HPU kept fighting for the equalizer — after the Bulldogs had back-to-back chances that were off target — as
Ryan Behrmann ripped off a pair of shots that were saved just past the 80th minute. Behrmann and
Aiden Bazzell had shots as the 90 minute-mark was approaching, but weren't able to find pay dirt to finish in a scoreless draw.
Overall, HPU out-shot Asheville 19-8 as four shots were on goal to the Bulldogs' one. The Panthers had 13 corner kicks to their six.
Up Next: High Point heads into the postseason, hosting the Big South Semifinal at Vert Stadium on Sunday, November 8 at 7:00 p.m. The top-seeded Panthers will face the winner of the No. 4/No. 5 seed as the bracket will be announced Sunday afternoon.
#GoHPU
