SPORTS
Men’s Soccer Falls to High Point
Junior Jaylen Thompson tries to get a header up and over the outstretched arms of the High Point goalie.
DAVIDSON, N.C. – High Point scored a pair of first-half goals and held off a late charge as the Panthers edged Davidson in its men’s soccer opener, 2-1, Monday evening at Alumni Stadium.
Ilias Kosmidis converted from the penalty spot 10:41 into the contest to give High Point (2-0) the early advantage.
Ned Morrisett’s penalty kick goes into the net past the High Point goal keeper.
In the 35th minute, Tony Pineda beat the Wildcat defense and found the back of the net from the top of the 18 to extend the Panthers’ lead.
Davidson had two great scoring chances midway through the second half, but the Panthers’ Keegan Meyer made a pair saves from point-blank range to keep it a 2-0 contest.
The first stop coming on a Jaylen Thompson header that was tipped over the bar followed by a kick save on Hugh Chatham’s attempt at the near post.
Ned Morrissett put the ‘Cats on the board with 22 seconds to play with a successful penalty try of his own.
Ned Morrisett’s penalty kick resulted in the Wildcats’ only goal in their 2-1 loss to High Point.
After the two teams combined for just five shots in the first half, the Wildcats finished with an 11-9 edge, while both sides finished with five corner kicks.
Meyer led both keepers with three stops for the Panthers.
Up Next
Davidson will travel to Greensboro Saturday for a 7 p.m. kickoff with former Southern Conference rival UNCG.
Comments from Head Coach Matt Spear
High Point is a good team coming off a conference championship last season. They took their chances well and were able to stifle much of our attacks in the first half and keep the lead under significant second-half pressure.
We needed to be better on their two goals. Two poor sequences for us, that changed the game.
Senior Jordan Hill tried to get the ball back across the goal after a corner kick for the ‘Cats in first minute of the game.
Second half the guys elevated to create more going forward and earn 6-7 golden chances. The tide could have switched our way with better finishing. We needed to get more of the shots on frame and their keeper made a massive point blank save on the one shot on target.
Happy for Ned to convert the penalty and we talk about scoring the last goal in games regardless of the final result.
Strong starts for Freshmen Henry Howell and Mateo Alzate in their debuts. Jackson Bracy, Lucas Hauth and Tavis Braithwaite all made an impact as newcomers too.
We were missing a couple key pieces tonight, so a focus now is to get everyone healthy and push on.