High Point Releases 2015 Men's Soccer Schedule
Date Posted: 6/3/2015
HIGH POINT, N.C. - The High Point University men's soccer team and head coach Dustin Fonder announced the schedule for the upcoming 2015 season on Tuesday. The Panthers will face a challenging slate of games that include non-conference contests against schools from the ACC and the Atlantic 10.
"As in years past we have gone out of our way to put together a challenging non-conference schedule that will prepare us for the rigors of the Big South," Fonder said. "We will see some teams that we have not played before which should be exciting for our guys. This schedule will allow us to face a variety of challenges that will prepare us to compete for a Big South title."
High Point will play exhibition games on the road at Marshall on Aug. 17 and Appalachian State on Aug. 22 before officially opening the season at UNC Wilmington on August 28. The Seahawks defeated HPU by a score of 2-0 at Vert Stadium last season before going on to win 13 games and reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament. High Point then continues its season-opening road trip when it travels to Johnson City, Tenn., to face East Tennessee State on Sept. 1.
The Panthers open their home schedule with a match against former Big South rival VMI at Vert Stadium on September 5. It is the first of two-straight home games for High Point and will be followed by a match against Dayton on Sept. 10. High Point earned a 2-1 win in overtime at Dayton last season on free kick by Panther defender Austin Yearwood.
HPU returns to the road on Sept. 15 when the team travels to Davidson, N.C., to face the Davidson Wildcats, its second of three-straight games against opponents from the Atlantic 10. The Panthers then head to Fairfax, Va., to face George Mason on Sept. 19. The Wildcats only lost two games in 2014, going 10-2-6 on the season while George Mason finished 11-4-5.
High Point returns home to take on inter-Triad rival UNCG on Sept. 23. The Panthers and Spartans last faced off in 2013 when HPU picked up a 3-0 win on the road.
Following its home game against UNCG, High Point will begin conference play with a road game at UNC Asheville on Sept. 29 before returning home for three-straight games. The Panthers return home for three-straight games beginning on Oct. 2 against Presbyterian College. HPU will then face Laurel on Oct. 4 before facing off with conference rival Liberty on Oct. 7.
High Point will travel to Farmville, Va., on Oct. 10 to take on Longwood in Big South Conference action before returning home to host to Virginia Tech out of the ACC on Oct. 13. It is the final non-conference game of the season for the Panthers.
HPU closes out the regular season with five-straight conference games, travelling to Radford on Oct. 17 and Gardner-Webb on Oct. 31 and hosting Winthrop on Oct. 24, Campbell on Oct. 28 and Coastal Carolina on Nov. 4 in the regular-season finale.
The first round of the Big South Men's Soccer Championship will be played at the home sites of the four high seeds once again this season with the games being played on Nov. 10. The four winners will then meet at Bryan Park in Greensboro, North Carolina for the semifinals on Nov. 13 and Big South Men's Soccer Championship game on Nov. 15.
High Point returns eight starters from last season's squad that won 10 games, and finished third in the Big South in 2014, led by returning All-Conference selections Ebe Kudolo (First Team), Austin Yearwood (Second Team) and Renato Punyed (Honorable Mention).
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