HPU men’s soccer comes from behind for 4-2 win at USC Upstate

• High Point overcame a 2-0 deficit on the road to earn a 4-2 win at USC Upstate on Saturday.
• Senior Chris Ramsell finished with two goals and an assist for the Panthers.
• HPU scored four times after halftime and now has 12 second-half goals on the season.

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The High Point University men’s soccer team rallied from two-goals down to pick up a 4-2 win on the road at USC Upstate on Saturday night. Senior Chris Ramsell finished with two goals and an assist on the night for the Panthers.

“‘I’m happy we were able to find a way to win a tough game on the road tonight,” head coach EJå O’keeffe said. “I thought we were flat for the first 55 minutes and did not put them under pressure. You have to give USC Upstate credit, they found two goals and put us in a hole. After that we finally dug our heels in and decided we wanted to play. We found four goals, but we have a lot of things we need to clean up. Any time you get a win in college soccer it is a good thing, but we have some things we need to address before we play George Mason on Wednesday.”

High Point remains undefeated and improves to 5-0-1 on the season with the victory over the Spartans, who drop to 2-3-0 for 2016.

The Panthers fell behind by a score of 2-0 early in the second half after goals by Upstate’s Rinaldo Alphonse and Morten Timm scored in the 47th and 57th minute.

Ramsell put the HPU on the board less than two minutes after the Spartans scored their second goal with a penalty kick then tied the game two minutes later with a goal off a corner kick.

Ramsell assisted on the game-winning goal, connecting with redshirt-senior Erien Campbell in the 69th minute for the defender’s second goal of the season. Senior Renato Punyed then added an insurance goal in the 80th minute to push the High Point lead to 4-2.

The Panthers finished the game with a 17-10 edge in shots and an 8-6 advantage in shots on goal. Redshirt-freshman Pat Fallon earned his first start of the season and made four saves to earn his first collegiate win.

High Point returns home on Wednesday, Sept. 21, when the team hosts George Mason out of the Atlantic 10. Kickoff for the game is set for 7 p.m., at Vert Stadium.