#1 High Point Blanks #5 Longwood, 1-0, to Advance to Championship Final
By High Point Athletics
HIGH POINT, N.C. - The High Point University men's soccer team will play in its sixth straight Big South Championship game with a, 1-0, win over the No. 5 seeded Longwood University on Sunday night in the Big South Championship Semifinals.
Head Coach Zach Haines: "That's six straight conference tournament finals for the program. I think we're one of, if not the only program in the country that can say that. I'm really proud of that achievement, but if you look at the guys that have been with the program for several years and to be able to make it to the finals every single year is fantastic for the program. Tonight was exactly what it needed to be for us in terms of just getting the job done."
Longwood fired off the first shot on target as it just nicked the post to keep the game scoreless in the eighth minute. The Panthers dominated in shots in the first half with eight of their own to Longwood's three. A few early corner kicks led to the Panthers first real chances of the night to capitalize and take the early lead. The Longwood defense did a great job controlling the game on their side of the pitch to keep HPU off the board. Jefferson Amaya fired off the only shot on goal of the half as the freshman keeper, Tor Fletcher made the save.
Ross Johnstone got in on the action to start the second half with a shot as Fletcher made another save. It was a battle between the Lancers and the Panthers until the High Point junior captain made it a 1-0 game in the 76th minute. Anthony Ramirez had the ball in the corner as he found an open Amaya at the top of the box as he was able to laser one to the bottom left of the net to hand HPU the lead late in the semifinals.
Just a few minutes later, Longwood had a few chances to score the equalizer, but Josh Caron made an impeccable save as Aaron Asamoah had a laser of his own that Caron was right there to put his gloves on. Koven Johnson was so close to making it a 2-nil game with a shot to the bottom left of the net saved by Fletcher.
HPU controlled the ball towards the end as they were deemed victorious heading to its sixth straight Big South Tournament Championship.
The Panthers will now be playing for their third consecutive title and their fourth since 2020-21.
Up Next: High Point will host the No. 2 seeded Gardner-Webb University on Saturday, November 16 for the Big South title. Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m. at Vert Stadium