HPU Women’s Soccer Falls To No. 1 Liberty In Big South Semifinals

• High Point fell to Liberty by a score of 2-1 in the Big South Semifinals
• Redshirt-junior Kelsey Perrell tied the game at 1-1 with he third goal of the tournament.
• The Panthers finish the season with a 12-5-4 record, matching last season for the best record in HPU’s Div. I history.

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The fourth-seeded High Point University women’s soccer team lost to top-seeded Liberty by a score of 2-1 on Friday night at Bryan Park in Greensboro, N.C. Redshirt-junior Kelsey Perrell scored her third goal in two tournament games for HPU.

“I am very proud of how hard this team worked tonight and their quality of soccer,” head coach Marty Beall said. “This was a great soccer game and the fans that came out to cheer us on were amazing. You have to give credit to Liberty for getting the job done. I am so proud of the girls for the season that we had and for a great semifinal game.”

High Point finishes the season with a 12-5-4 overall record. The mark matches HPU’s best record in its Div. I history which the team set last season. Liberty improves to 12-7-1 and advances to the Big South Championship game for the third-straight season.

High Point fell behind in the 15th minute as Liberty’s Jennifer Knoebel scored to put the Flames up 1-0. Jaime Bouffard crossed the ball just in front of goal from the left side and Knoebel slid in front of freshman Callyn Loughrey to sneak the ball inside the far post.

The Liberty lead lasted until the 56th minute when Perrell tied the score at 1-1 with her third goal of the Big South Tournament. Junior Jenny Marshall switched the field with a big ball to Perrell who ran onto the pass about 40 yards from goal and turned towards the box. Perrell crossed up a Flames’ defender at the edge of the penalty area before hitting a line drive between the Flames’ keeper and the near post from 15 yards.

The game remained tied for just 11 minutes before the Flames retook the lead on a header by Alyssa Hill. LU’s Sami Santos hit a cross into the box from the left and Hill redirected it towards the far post to give Liberty the one-goal advantage.

The Panthers nearly tied the game in the 83rd minute if not for a great save by Liberty’s Holly Van Noord. Junior Meg Kowalski controlled a loose ball in the box at the penalty spot and hit a hard rising shot that Van Noord just managed to palm over the crossbar.

The two goals surrendered by High Point are the most in a game since a 2-2 draw at Towson on August 28. It was only the second game of the season that HPU has allowed multiple goals in a contest. Sophomore Alex Persiani had two saves in the game for the Panthers.

High Point and Liberty both had 12 shots in the game with the Flames holding a 5-4 edge in shots on goal. LU also finished with a 6-3 edge in corner kicks.