CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Until the final whistle, the 16th-ranked High Point University men's soccer team kept fighting in a back-and-forth tilt at 11th-ranked University of Virgina.
It proved huge as
Aidan Morrison sealed the deal in the 88th minute — with his first goal in Purple & White — to propel the Panthers past the Cavaliers, 3-2, at Klöckner Stadium on Monday night.
"It's one of the reasons I came here was to be able to play in games like this," Morrison said. "I'm glad that I was able to do my part and help contribute to this win."
The victory was HPU's first win over UVA in the Division I era as the first was in 1941, while it was the first meeting in which both teams were ranked in the top-25 and the first matchup between the programs since 2023. The ranked result marked the Panthers' first in 2026 and HPU's fourth win over a ranked opponent since 2024.
Site: Klöckner Stadium
Score: #16 High Point 3, #11 Virginia 2
Records: High Point (2-0-0), Virginia (0-2-0)
Head Coach Zach Haines: "I'm proud because tonight was just the mentality that you have to do whatever you possibly can to get the result, and I thought that's the story of tonight is our guys had to suffer at times as they played some really good stuff at times. Obviously, it's difficult to come to this place and score three goals and we did that. We are doing it without a couple of really key guys that would be huge for us, so I love the number of players that stepped up and just immensely proud of our grit, our fight, and our expectation to win, even at 2-2, it wasn't 'Hey, we'll take a draw at UVA.' We kept pushing and kept pushing and we got the reward for it."
The Panthers were the first to strike, scoring in the 12th minute thanks to
Daniel Lugo's second score in as many games.
Alfred Baafi crossed the ball into the box, where
Ashton Miles got a touch before it eventually made its way to Lugo, who one-tapped the ball into the back-left corner of the net. It was Miles' first assist as a Panther and Baafi's third assist in two games.
UVA netted the equalizer in the 35th minute, but the Panthers were quick to retake the advantage. HPU fifth-year goalkeeper
Josh Caron launched a perfect strike downfield, over the head of the Cavaliers' defender, and hit
Nick Sarantakos in stride as it took him only two dribbles before powering the ball past the goalkeeper's reach to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead before half in the 43th minute. It is the freshman's second consecutive game with a goal and assist, while it was Caron's first collegiate assist.
After 45 minutes of play, the Panthers totaled two shots, two shots on goal and two corner kicks as Caron recorded two saves in the first half.
Out of half time, UVA knotted the score again in the 49th minute but HPU remained strong on both ends over the course of the following 30 minutes.
Caron made two tremendous saves on goal to prevent UVA from taking the lead, and HPU continued to push and generate pressure. The Panthers' threat resulted in back-to-back yellow cards from Isaac Mwakutuya, resulting in a red card in the 82nd minute as the Cavs had to play the final eight minutes down a player.
The HPU offense found shots from
Prosper Adagani — followed by one from Sarantakos — before the final attacking counter was one UVA couldn't stop.
With under two minutes remaining with the match knotted at 2-2,
Kingston Genot sliced the ball to the far post, setting up a cross from
James VandeHei which landed at the feet of Sarantakos, who took a shot at goal.
The attempt at net bounced off the hands of the goalkeeper, and Morrison followed through with an epic left-footed strike into the top part of the net for his first goal of the season and the ultimate game-winning score. The win snapped a four-match losing streak against Virginia and the first in the DI era.
The Panthers tallied five shots, five on goal and two corner kicks, while Caron had a standout performance where he faced 20 shots and recorded four saves.
Up Next: HPU takes the trip up to College Park, Md., to take on No. 7 Maryland on Saturday, August 29 at 7 p.m.
#GoHPU
