• High Point and Detroit played to a 1-1 draw on Friday at Vert Stadium.
• Freshman Siggi Benonysson scored his third goal in two games for the Panthers.
• High Point dominated possession, finishing with a 17-12 edge in shots and a 9-5 advantage in shots on goal.
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men’s soccer team played Detroit to a 1-1 draw on Friday night at Vert Stadium in the first leg of the HPU/Elon Classic. Freshman Siggi Benonysson scored his third goal in two games for HPU in the contest.
“I though the team did well for most of the game,” head coach EJ O’Keeffe said. “We created a lot of chances and gave ourselves a lot of opportunities, we just weren’t able to capitalize. That’s the game of soccer. You have to give Detroit credit, they were effective in what they did and found some success. We will learn from this and get better. It is still the early days of the season.”
High Point moves to 1-0-1 for 2016 with the draw while Detroit stays winless with a 0-1-2 record through three games.
The Panthers controlled play early with four shots and three corner kicks in the opening 15 minutes but it wasn’t until the 38th minute that HPU broke through with Benonysson’s third goal of the season. The freshman was played into the box on a pass by freshman Chad Poarch and finished with a shot into the far side netting to push High Point in front, 1-0.
Detroit came right back to tie the game just five minutes later when the Titans earned a penalty kick for a foul in the box and Tyler Moorman converted from the spot, knotting the score at 1-1.
The Panthers were unable to find a goal in the second half despite outshooting Detroit by a margin of 7-2 so the game went to overtime. In the first overtime period, HPU appeared to find a game winner in the 98th minute when freshman Jon Bolanos got his foot to a ball at the far post and seemed to poke it past the keeper but it was ruled to have not crossed the line, leaving the game knotted at 1-1.
HPU finished the night with a 17-12 edge in shots with nine on target compared to just five for the Titans. The Panthers also had a 13-3 advantage in corner kicks.
Redshirt-freshman Keegan Meyer made four saves in the game, including one in overtime, and allowed UDM just the penalty kick goal to move to 1-0-1 on the season.
High Point concludes its portion of the HPU/Elon Classic with a home game against St. Bonaventure on Sunday, Sept. 4, at Vert Stadium. Kickoff for the match is set for 2 p.m.