Site: High Point, N.C. (Vert Stadium)
Score: #7 Duke 17, #20 High Point 8
Records: Duke (1-1), HPU (0-2)
Next HPU Event: Saturday, Feb. 15 — vs Drexel (Vert Stadium), Noon
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The No. 20-ranked High Point University men’s was defeated by No. 7-ranked Duke, 17-8, on Saturday afternoon in its home opener at Vert Stadium.
High Point jumped out to an early two-goal lead after back-to-back goals by Asher Nolting and Jake Schleppy less than a minute apart (13:30 and 13:01). The Blue Devils with a 4-0 run that included a pair of goals from Cameron Badour and never relinquished from that point on.
Nolting’s two goals extended his goal streak to 18 games with 47 scored during this stretch. He has recorded at least one point in every game he has played in and extended his streak to 32 games.
The Panthers cut the deficit to within one goal on three occasions in the second quarter from an unassisted marker from Nolting at 10:13 and a man-up tally from Dalton Sulver at 7:11. Koby Russell made a 6-5 contest at 4:35 in the second, however, Duke tallied a pair of goals late in the quarter – including one with three seconds on the clock – to take an 8-5 lead into halftime.
Joel Scerbo led the second half off with a goal for the hosts, but Duke responded with a trio of goals included its second man-up marker of the afternoon. A pair of Tyler Hendrycks goals would push the deficit to within three to end the third quarter, however, those would be the last two goals for HPU of the contest.
Duke held the Panthers scoreless in the fourth quarter while finding the back of the net six more times while controlling possession for the majority of the period.
“It was somewhat similar to the Maryland game we played three good quarters and then that fourth quarter got away from us,” head coach Jon Torpey said. “It’s tough to know without watching the tape but I felt like we did not have the ball a lot there and when we did we didn’t take care of it. We got some stops defensively but the field tilted.”
Freshman Parker Green had another solid performance in the cage for HPU with 10 saves on the day. It’s Green’s second week with a double-digit save day. Green also played a role on the offensive side of things, as he took the ball over half field himself after a save which set up one of Hendrycks’ goals.
“Parker is great, he is a good leader within the defense and is doing really good job with all that comes with being an NCAA Division I goalie. It’s a lot to talk to a freshman about running the defense and holding the guys in front of him accountable. To have him be someone who understands our clear and all that can come from it and what teams are going to do to scheme us, I’ve just been so proud of him, Tony, and Griff. All three of those guys have been incredibly supportive of one another, they’ve been dialed in, and they have done anything and everything that we have asked them to,” Coach Torpey said.
High Point returns to Vert Stadium on Saturday (Feb. 15) when it hosts Drexel at Noon.