HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University women's soccer team has hit the halfway point in the season concluding non-conference play on Saturday in Florida and is set to start conference play September 19 against Longwood. 
 
Goal Scorers and Achievements
Sabba Haghgoo leads the team in goals with four, tied for second in the conference. Haghgoo had three of those goals back on August 20th against Marshall which was the junior's first career brace and hat trick. The following week she was rightfully named Big South Offensive Player of the Week.
 
Morgan Wilcox is second on team in goals with two in which she scored those goals in back-to-back games on August 20 and August 23 against East Carolina. Two freshmen scored their first collegiate goals that being Chloe Edwards who scored against East Carolina on August 23 and Abbie Zubrzycki who scored on September 6 against UNC Wilmington. Finally, junior transfer from Bellarmine University, Aubrey Bally scored her first goal in a High Point uniform on September 6.

The achievements from the first half of the season did not go unnoticed when Big South released the midseason watch list which included four Panthers. Edwards, Haghgoo, Kari Powell, and Coryn McDonnell were all honored with the award on Thursday by the conference. Powell was previously named the Midfielder Preseason Player of the Year for her standout performances from the 2025 season. 
 
Mirshafiei in Net
Grad transfer Nylah Mirshafiei has appeared in all eight games for the Panthers, starting in her last seven. Mirshafiei transferred from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs and currently has 35 saves and one shutout to her name. Mirshafiei has looked very strong for the Panthers all season long and her veteran experience is only going to add value as she starts conference play.
 
Standings Overview
The Panthers are currently eighth the conference standings with Charleston Southern trailing behind with a 1-6 record. USC Upstate sits atop of the conference with a record of 4-2-2 which is the only record above .500 in the Big South. The Spartans wins came against Hampton, Wofford, Queens, and Davidson to which in all of those wins, Upstate scored three or more goals. Upstate fell to High Point in the conference final last year to penalty kicks. UNC Asheville sits at second with a 3-3-3 record. The Bulldogs had two massive wins including a 6-0 victory over Southern Wesleyan and a 5-1 win over VMI on Sunday.  
 
Conference Standings:

1. USC Upstate               4-2-2
2. UNC Asheville             3-3-3
3. Longwood                   3-4-2
4. Presbyterian.              2-3-1
5. Gardner-Webb            3-5-1
6. Winthrop                     3-5-1
7. Radford                       2-5-1
8. High Point                 1-6-1
9. Charleston Southern   1-6

 
Expectations:
Despite starting the season off 1-6-1 the defending Big South Champs find themselves in a better position than they did last year. Here's why:

• The Panthers have had success in scoring this year compared to last year. The team scored nine goals in non-conference play to the three they had from this time last year.
• The team finds themselves in familiar territory. The Panthers were 0-6-2 in their non-conference slate last year. The Panthers went on to win three of their final five matches to wrap up conference play. That momentum guided them to a conference title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. If history repeats itself, we could be seeing a different team come conference play. 

 
Up Next:
The Panthers will hit the road to kick off conference play against the Longwood Lancers on September 19, at 2 p.m. in Farmville, Va. The Lancers are currently third in the standings with a 3-4-2 overall record. Last year Longwood lost to Upstate in the conference semifinal match-up, a match that had resulted in penalty kicks. The Lancers were picked to finish third in the pre-season polls this year and had five players named to the pre-season all-conference team including forwards Peyton Curney and Sam Fischer, midfielders Meghan Piazza and Coryn Silberstein and defender Berni Wayland. Fischer was also named Pre-Season Forward of the Year after a freshman season to where she led her team in goals with seven and collected 16 points, was named first team all-conference, and named Big South Freshman of the Year. Another name to look out for Longwood is its goal keeper Maddie Wessel who was named as the Defensive Player of the Week on September 8^th. Wessel became the second player to win that honor this season with Berni Wayland receiving it on August 24th. In that week Wessel pitched two shutouts including a draw to Richmond and a 1-0 win against Hampton. This season Wessel has started in four of the five games that she's appeared in with a 1-1-2 record, 15 saves, and two shutouts. The Lancers are led by longtime head coach and Longwood alum Todd Dyer who founded the program back in 1994. Dyer has over 300 career wins and is currently the longest tenured coach at Longwood.