RICHMOND, Va. – The High Point University Panthers faced off against the Saint Joesph Hawks in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament semifinals. This was the second straight matchup in the semifinals of the A-10 Tournament for the two teams and the second matchup of the 2026 season. After trailing throughout the majority of the game, the Panthers tied the game at nine all in the fourth quarter with a four goal push. In the last six minutes of the game, Saint Joseph's scored two goals to win 11-9, ending HPU's 2026 season.
Site: Robins Stadium
Score: High Point 9, Saint Joseph's 11
Records: High Point (6-8, 5-1), Saint Joseph's (7-5, 3-3)
High Point opened the game slow. After a goal from
Carson Robins to tie the game at one all at the eight-minute mark, Saint Joseph's strung together three goals to lead 4-1 at the end of the first quarter.
Cole Motter started off the second quarter with a unique goal. Taking a long shot from the opposite end of the field, Motter scored his first collegiate goal after noticing an open goal frame with no goalie defending it. The ball bounced in for HPU's second goal of the game to make it 4-2.
Before the end of the first half,
Luke Fenderson found the back of the net to make it 6-3 in favor of the Hawks at the break.
HPU closed the game back within two points at the 10-minute mark in the third quarter after back-to-back goals from
Justin Wixted and another goal from Robins. Saint Joseph's led 8-5 at the start of the fourth quarter and scored a goal in the first three and a half minutes to extend its lead to four – the largest of the game.
High Point took on the challenge and battled in the final 11 minutes of action. The Panthers went on a four-goal surge after
Nicholas Steele got things going with an unassisted goal.
Owen Bunten scored on a man-up situation followed by another Steele goal.
The equalizer came from freshman,
Luke Fenderson who took his defender one-on-one and buried a shot in the back of the net to make it nine all with six minutes to go.
Luca Accardo won the next faceoff but the Panthers offense was unable to connect on three shots taken during the possession. SJU capitalized on an HPU turnover and scored to go up by one point.
Saint Joseph's won the next faceoff and took advantage of the possession using up over two minutes of the time on the clock before firing in a shot for a goal with a minute to go in the game. High Point won the final faceoff taken by
Michael Tauscher but could not connect on the last shots that were taken and fell 11-9.
Steele, Fenderson and Robins each finished with two goals a piece while Wixted added in two assists and a goal. Accardo went 12-20 on the faceoff with nine ground balls.
Robby Lang picked up two caused turnovers and
Zack Overend registered nine saves during the action.
Following the Atlantic 10 Tournament, Accardo was named to the All-Championship team for the second season in a row for his efforts.
UP NEXT:
This concludes High Point's 2026 season, finishing with a 6-8 overall record and a 5-1 A-10 record for second place in the league.
#GoHPU x #A10MLAX
