ROCK HILL, S.C. – The High Point University women’s soccer team fell to Winthrop by a score of 1-0 in the Big South semifinals on Friday evening in Rock Hill, S.C. HPU finishes the 2012 season with a 10-6-6 record.
“Unfortunately we did not play our best soccer today,” head coach Marty Beall said. “You have to give credit to Winthrop for that as they put us under a tremendous amount of pressure. At the end of the day Winthrop’s work rate was just better than ours. I wish them all the best in the Big South Championship.”
The only goal of the game for either side came in the 24th minute when Big South Offensive Player of the Year Krystyna Freda found a seam and dribbled into the box from the right side of the field. Freda opened up some space with her dribble and hit a shot past a diving Jesse May to put the Eagles ahead, 1-0.
High Point pushed for an equalizer in the final minutes of the first half and developed some dangerous chances including a shot by sophomore Jacky Kessler that went just over the crossbar in the 40th minute. Kessler finished the half with a team-high three shots.
After the halftime break the Panthers continued to apply pressure, earning four corner kicks and putting up seven shots in the second half. Unfortunately, High Point was unable to break the Eagles’ defense, dropping the 1-0 decision.
High Point finished the game with 12 shots including six on goal. May made one save in the game as the Panthers’ defense held Winthrop to only two shots on goal.
The loss was HPU’s first to Winthrop in the Big South Tournament. High Point entered the game with a 1-0-1 record against WU in the conference tournament. High Point’s final record of 10-6-6- gives the Panthers their first winning season since 2008 and their second double-digit win season in three years. Winthrop improves to 12-6-2 overall in 2012 and will face the winner of Radford and Longwood in the Big South Championship game on Sunday at 2 p.m.