• High Point surrendered a goal in the 101st minute to fall on the road by a score of 1-0 to Liberty.
• Redshirt-junior Kody Palmer made five saves for the Panthers in the loss.
• High Point earned the No. 3 seed in the Big South Men’s Soccer Championship with a 6-2-1 conference mark.
LYNCHBURG, Va. – The High Point University men’s soccer team fell to Liberty by a score of 1-0 in double-overtime on Saturday afternoon in Lynchburg, Va. The Panthers finish the regular season with a 9-7-2 overall record.
“I thought our guys competed like we have all season long but we didn’t have the quality we have had lately,” head coach Dustin Fonder said. “Fortunatly we were able to play a lot of players, which should keep us fresh as we get ready to play in the Big South Quarterfinals on Tuesday. We ended the season with four of the last five on the road and I think that travel caught up to us as we played with heavy legs today. Now we have to turn around, have a good regeneration session tomorrow and put all our focus on Tuesday.”
The Panthers and Flames played 100 minutes of scoreless soccer before Liberty broke through with a game-winning goal 18 seconds into the second overtime period. Glodi Konga found Khalil Karl in the center of the box and the midfielder scored with a shot into the lower left corner to give Liberty the 1-0 win.
Liberty finished with a 12-7 advantage in shots for the game. Redshirt-junior Sonny Mukungu, senior Mamadee Nyepon and junior Ben Burdon all had shots on frame for the Panthers in the match.
Redshirt-junior Kody Palmer made five saves in the game while taking the loss, dropping to 6-5-2 on the season. Scott Sutarik turned away three HPU shots to pick up the win for Liberty.
High Point finishes the regular season at 9-7-2 overall. The Panthers have earned the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Big South Men’s Soccer Tournament with a conference mark of 6-2-1. Liberty improves to 11-5-1 overall and 6-3-0 in the Big South. The Flames will be the No. 5 seed in the Big South Tournament.
The Panthers will host either Longwood or UNC Asheville in the Big South Quarterfinals on Tuesday, Nov. 11, at Vert Stadium. High Point beat Longwood by a score of 3-2 at home earlier this season and bested UNC Asheville by a score of 3-0 at home. The quarterfinal match will kickoff at 7 p.m.