BOILING SPRINGS, N.C.- Keely Brown made a career-high 11 saves, but High Point netted two goals in a 33 second span at the end of the first half to defeat the Gardner-Webb women's soccer team 2-0, in a Big South Conference match on Wednesday evening at Greene-Harbison Stadium.
"I thought we came out well again and created a few decent looks. After High Point scored the first goal we need to regroup and get the equalizer," remarked Gardner-Webb women's soccer head coach Mike Varga. "I thought we continued to battle in the second half but just couldn't get one back. Time to regroup and prepare for Saturday morning."
The Panthers showed why they entered the game as one of the Big South's top defensive teams, as they limited Gardner-Webb to just seven shots and two shots on goal. High Point consistenly was able to posesses the ball in the offensive end of the field, generating 23 shots for the match, but it was the Runnin' Bulldogs that held the slight 5-4 edge on corner kick opportunities.
Offensively, Brandi Arey led the charge with three shots for the Runnin' Bulldogs, while Meg Kowalski recorded a game-high five shots, four of which she put on frame for the Panthers.
High Point had a quality opportunity to score the first goal of the match in the 17th when Kowalski rocketed a shot from just outside the box towards the lower left hand corner of the net, but Brown made a fantastic diving stop to keep the game scoreless.
It looked as if the game was headed toward a scoreless first half, but Paige Rombach gave High Point the lead in the 40th minute. Just 33 seconds later, Kowalski notched the second goal to send the Panthers to the 2-0 victory.
Gardner-Webb takes to the road for its next match, when it takes on Coastal Carolina Saturday at 10:00 a.m.
