HPU Women’s Soccer Announces Its 2013 Schedule

HIGH POINT, N.C. – High Point University women’s soccer, defending Big South Regular Season Champions, announced its schedule for the upcoming 2013 season on Tuesday. The Panthers will face a difficult set of opponents including fellow 2012 regular-season champions William & Mary (CAA), Navy (Patriot), and UNC Greensboro (SoCon) as well as Virginia Tech and East Carolina.

“This fall we will have one our most experienced team with nine starters returning,” head coach Marty Beall said. “With that in mind it was important to design a schedule that will challenge our players with great competition both home and away. There are no easy games on this non-conference schedule. As the defending champion, we must be mentally and physically prepared to face everyone’s best effort and this schedule will prepare us for that.”

High Point will scrimmage against Western Carolina in Cullowhee, N.C., on Aug. 16 before opening the season one week later at Virginia Tech on Aug. 23. HPU then continues its season-opening road trip at William & Mary on Aug. 30.

The Panthers will play their home opener on Sept. 1 when they welcome Georgia Southern to Vert Stadium. Following its home opener, High Point faces back-to-back games against regional rivals beginning on Sept. 6 when the team plays host to UNC Greensboro. Two-days later, HPU will travel down the road to Burlington, N.C., to face the Elon Phoenix.

High Point wraps up its non-conference schedule with a road game at Navy on Sept. 13, a home game against Appalachian State on Sept. 15 and a home game against East Carolina on Sept. 20.

The Panthers begin the defense of their Big South championship with three out of its first four conference games at home. High Point hosts VMI on Sept. 25, travels to Gardner-Webb on Sept. 28, then hosts Winthrop on Oct. 2 and Coastal Carolina on Oct. 5.

HPU will play three-straight road games against conference foes, its longest road swing of the season, beginning with a game at Longwood on Oct. 9. The team will also travel to Liberty on Oct. 12 and UNC Asheville on Oct. 16.

Following the game at UNC Asheville, High Point will host Radford on Oct. 19 and Charleston Southern on Oct. 23. The Panthers then travel to Presbyterian College on Oct. 26 before wrapping up the regular season at home against Campbell on Oct. 29.

The first-round of the Big South Women’s Soccer Championship will once again be played at the home sites of the higher seeds this season with the games scheduled to be played on Nov. 2. The winners of the first round will then advance to Myrtle Beach, S.C., for the Big South semifinals on Nov. 8 with the Big South Championship played two-days later on Nov. 10.

High Point returns nine starters from its 2012 Big South Regular Season Championship team. The Panthers will bring back five All-Conference selections in midfielders Becca Hemby and Taylor Parker, forward Jacky Kessler and defenders Alise LeCompte and Sammy Vercellino as well as four of their top five scorers from 2012.