HPU Recap follows Elon story
HIGH POINT, N.C. – A header goal by Luke Matthews inside the 40th minute proved to be the difference maker as the Elon University men’s soccer team earned a 2-1 victory over its Piedmont Triad rival High Point on Saturday night, Sept. 8, at Vert Stadium.
The win was the Phoenix’s third straight to improve to 3-1 on the season. Elon also pushed its unbeaten streak to five matches versus the Panthers (4-1), who suffered their first setback of the season in their home opener.
The Rundown
Elon had the first real chance of the match inside the third minute. The Phoenix forced an early corner kick, but the set piece resulted in a wide shot from Jack Willbye.
High Point took the lead inside the 19th minute. Jonathan Bolanos scored his first goal of the season from near the top of the 18-yard area as the Panthers moved ahead 1-0.
The lead was short-lived as the Phoenix leveled the match in the 20th minute on a goal by Asger Hausted Andersen. The Aarhus, Denmark, native dribbled the ball the length of the field before finishing near the right post to knot the game at one-all.
Elon took the lead later in the 40th minute. Jack Edwards played a ball near the top of the 18-yard area with the keeper charging at him. The striker attempted to sneak the ball past him, but the netminder was able to get a slight touch on it before the ball was knocked out of bounds by a defender to give Elon a corner.
Willbye took the assignment and the ball was able to find the head of Matthews, who headed it in for his first score of the season. The set piece put the Phoenix ahead 2-1, who took that advantage into the half.
The Phoenix dominated in shots in the opening stanza, 6-1, with three attempts on goal compared to one for the Panthers. Elon also had a 3-1 lead in corner opportunities over High Point.
The second half saw High Point push numbers forward in an attempt to chase the equalizer. The Panthers’ best chance came with just a few seconds left in the contest as a free kick found the head of Johnny Fenwick, who flicked it towards the goal. Despite that close opportunity for High Point, the Phoenix’s Matthew Jegier corralled the ball for the save as Elon held off the Panthers to escape with the 2-1 victory.
Elon concluded the match with an 8-6 victory in shots with both teams having four of those on target. The Phoenix also added one more corner to its final total to secure the win on corners, 4-2.
Jegier played all 90 minutes in goal and had three saves on the match for Elon. His counterpart, Keegan Meyer, had two stops while also playing every minute of the match.
Up Next
The Phoenix hosts its home-opener on Tuesday, Sept. 11, versus in-state foe Charlotte at Rudd Field. Kickoff for that match is scheduled for 7 p.m.
HPU Suffers First Loss of 2018; 2-1 Against Elon
• High Point University men’s soccer suffered a 2-1 loss at the hands of visiting Elon, for their first loss of the 2018 campaign
• Junior forward Jonathan Bolanos collected his second goal of the season, to open the scoring on Saturday night
HIGH POINT, N.C. – High Point University men’s soccer took their first loss this Saturday, after a pair of first half goals from visiting Elon cemented a 2-1 final in favor of the visitors
It was an unsurprisingly physical affair between the two triad rivals, as the Panthers and the Phoenix combined for 15 fouls in the opening 45 minutes. With both sides testing each other’s defenses, the home side would be the first to break the scoreless tie in the 20th minute on Jonathan Bolanos’ second goal of the season.
With his back to goal, junior forward Siggi Benonysson played a perfectly timed give-and-go with the streaking Bolanos, who banked his shot from inside the 18 off the left post and in.
The helper on the Bolanos tally was Benonysson’s fifth of the year, and his fourth of the last three games, giving the Icelandic native an assist in all but one of his team’s contests this year.
The Phoenix would be the ones to take a lead into the break however, equalizing things just a minute later, and putting away the go ahead in the 41st on a corner kick.
After getting outshot 6-1 in the opening 45 minutes, the Panthers ramped up their offensive pressure with five attempts at net, and a trio of shots on goal. After coming back from a two-goal deficit against UNCG earlier this week, the home side seemed destined for another come back.
“I think goals change games.” said Head Coach EJ O’Keeffe, when asked about Elon’s late tally in the first. “I thought we had more of the ball in the second half but we weren’t smart with that and they got behind it and again managed the game extremely well. Its a credit to them, we’ve got to learn from this and understand what we need to do and stick to that and grow as a group. That’s why we play games like this, especially this early on, and we have to learn from it and get ready for the next one.”
Bolanos nearly grabbed himself a brace with a strike from 20-plus yards out, and a pair of free kick opportunities for defenders Ryan Inman and Johnny Fenwick nearly granted an equalizer. The Elon keeper would maintain his team’s one-goal advantage in the waning seconds however, and HPU would be forced to take its first loss of the 2018 season.
>> Fenwick has played every minute of HPU’s season thus far, while defenders Nick Phipps and Ryeong Choi played a full 90 against Elon
>> Bolanos’ tally puts him at a pair of goals on the year, he trails only Ilias Kosmidis and Tony Pineda (3) for a team-high
>> Saturday’s match was the first that the Panthers have been held to a single goal this year
>> Freshman defender Josh Dubost made the third appearance of his career after subbing in at the 60th minute
COMING UP NEXT
• The Panthers face their first power-five opponent of the season, traveling to Penn State for a 7 p.m. kickoff this Tuesday
• HPU has never played the Nittany Lions before, nor any other program currently in the Big 10