• High Point and No. 9 Coastal Carolina played to a 0-0 draw at Vert Stadium on Wednesday.
• The Panthers secure at least a .500 finish to the season with the tie.
• Redshirt-senior Kody Palmer made four saves to pick up his eighth clean sheet of the season.
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men’s soccer team drew with No. 9 Coastal Carolina, 0-0, on Wednesday night at Vert Stadium. The win by HPU secures at least a .500 finish to the season for the eighth-straight year.
“I thought this was a very good college soccer game tonight,” head coach EJ O’Keeffe said. “Coastal Carolina was the better team in the first half but we made some halftime adjustments and had some really good chances to win the game in the second half and overtime. I was pleased with the team’s effort and the fact that we kept a shutout. As tight as conference games can be, tournament games are even tighter so hopefully this shutout is something we can build on.”
The Panthers end the regular season with a 7-6-5 overall record and a 3-3-3 mark in the Big South. Coastal Carolina moves to 12-1-3 overall and 6-1-2 in conference play.
High Point and Coastal Carolina came into Wednesday’s game among the Big South’s best defensive teams with both allowing less than a goal per game. HPU and Coastal Carolina each had 15 shots on the night and the Chanticleers held a slim 5-4 edge in shots on goal.
Redshirt-senior Kody Palmer had four saves on the night for the Panthers to pick up his eighth shutout of the season and his first since the 10-0 win over Laurel University on Oct. 4. CCU’s Fernando Pina stopped four shots for the Chanticleers.
High Point was on the defensive in the first half, surrendering six shots with three on frame. Palmer made two stops and defender Johnny Fenwick headed another shot off the line to keep the game scoreless.
The game settled down in the second half, but neither side was able to find a goal in regulation. The Panthers’ best two chances in the second half came from senior Austin Yearwood and junior Chris Ramsell. Yearwood forced a diving save by Pina on a free kick in the 60th minute and junior Chris Ramsell had a shot from just in front of goal blocked on a desperate sliding effort by a Coastal defender in the 90th.
High Point controlled play in overtime, outshooting Coastal by a 5-3 margin. Senior Colin Sweeney had a shot saved in the 105th and another run just past the post two minutes later. The Panthers’ best chance of the night came in the 110th minute when junior Renato Punyed hit a shot from 40 yards that was kept out with a one-handed diving effort by Pina.
The Panthers finish the regular season sixth in the Big South and will hit the road for the Big South Quarterfinals on Tuesday, Nov. 10. HPU will either face Coastal Carolina or Winthrop depending on the result of the game between Winthrop and Longwood on Saturday. Pairings for the Big South Quarterfinals will be released on Saturday night.