• High Point advanced past #13 Coastal Carolina on penalty kicks after drawing with the Chanticleers, 1-1
• Junior Chris Ramsell scored in the 90th minute to send the game to overtime
• The Panthers bested CCU on penalties, 4-2, with Ramsell scoring the clincher
CONWAY, S.C. – The High Point University men’s soccer team advanced past #13 Coastal Carolina on penalty kicks, 4-2, after playing the third-seeded Chanticleers to a 1-1 draw in the Big South Quarterfinals on Tuesday night in Conway, S.C. Junior Chris Ramsell scored the game-tying goal with 30 seconds left to send the game to overtime.
“This was a wonderful performance tonight against a very good Coastal Carolina team,” head coach EJ O’Keeffe said. “We knew we would have our hands full, they have some good players and are well coached. We preached to our guys to believe in themselves and to believe in the process and they did that. I am extremely happy for this group and we look forward to a tough match on Friday against another nationally-ranked team in Radford.”
With time ticking down on the Panthers’ season and HPU trailing 1-0, the team pressed forward looking for an equalizer. Junior Renato Punyed found space on the right with just 30 seconds left and hit a cross into the penalty area. Coastal Carolina keeper Fernando Pina slipped when trying to punch the ball and Ramsell charged in for the game-tying header, his fourth goal of the season.
Neither team was able to find a goal in the two overtime periods sending the contest to penalty kicks. High Point took a quick lead in PKs when redshirt-Cameron Foster made his spot kick with a low shot to the left and CCU’s Sergio Camargo hit his over the crossbar. Both teams converted in the next two rounds as sophomore Ebe Kudolo and freshman Johnny Fenwick were successful for the Panthers and Tommy Gudmundsson and Louis Dargent converted for CCU.
A Pina save on Punyed’s penalty kick gave the Chanticleers an opening but Einar Einarsson followed with a miss over the crossbar. Ramsell then stepped to the spot and buried his shot to the right side of the net to send the Panthers to the Big South semifinals.
High Point moves to 7-6-6 overall on the season and advances to the Big South Semifinals for the second-straight season. Coastal Carolina moves to 12-2-4 on the season.
The game was scoreless until the 54th minute when Coastal Carolina scored to take a 1-0 lead. The Chanticleers played a free kick into the box and Ramsell saved the ball off the post. The rebound fell to Dargent at the goalmouth where he redirected it into the net.
Coastal finished with a slim 15-13 edge in shots with both team putting five shots on target. Palmer stopped four shots in the game, including two great saves on shots from CCU’s Tobenna Uzo. He made a sprawling stop on a breakaway in the first half and a diving save on a header in the second half.
High Point moves on to face second-seeded Radford in the Big South Semifinals on Friday at Bryan Park in Greensboro, N.C. The game is scheduled to kickoff at 7 p.m., following the conclusion of the game between top-seeded Winthrop and No. 4-seed Campbell. High Point is 1-2-1 in four meetings with the Highlanders in the Big South Tournament. The Panthers lost to RU on the road by a score of 2-1 in overtime during the regular season.