North Carolina Newspapers

{The Blue Banner} Page 16 High Point CONTINUED FROM PaGE 14 “I am very happy to get the first goal of my career. I just took the defender, took the ball and finished." - David Parra, freshman player trying to do well,” Cornish said. “It’s just ironic that that’s when they scored their two goals.” Although the Bulldogs had,one fi nal surge with several last minute shots on goal, it was not enough to tie the game. Even goalkeeper Hurskainen came out from the box in desperation to as sist his team, but his scissor kicking effort to sink the ball off a comer kick failed, and the game was settled in the Panthers’ advantage, marking High Point’s second straight conference vic tory of the year. “Our defense was a little better in the second half, but we had no of fense,” Hagedom said. Hagedom also pointed out the level of the competition, commending High Point for their soccer talent. “Some picked High Point to win the whole conference,” he said. “They are Conference Matchup VERSUS Friday 7 p.m. Justice Center , . Ian Hayes - Staff Photographer High Point s second half offense proved too much for the Bulldogs. head and shoulders better than us.” Statistically, High Point beat Asheville 17-8 in shots on goal and 11-4 in comer kicks. UNCA had seven saves and High Point had four. Although the first conference game resulted in a disappoint for the team, the future looks bright as far as Cor nish is concerned. “The good thing about this group of boys is when teams have come and taught them a lesson, we’ve learned from it,” he said. “I hope they’ve learned from what they did well, and what they didn’t do well.” Also looking to the future is alum nus Patrick Tate, who came to town for the weekend to see the Bulldogs’ first Big South Conference battle of the season. “I think they have a lot of good yoUng talent,” the 2009 graduate said. “They need to put it together a little, but it’s very promising for the next few years.” UNCA now goes on the road for their next four matches against Big South Conference opponents Radford, Virginia Military Institute, Winthrop and Gardner-Webb. Fans-See This! by Nark Bloom & Mark Wilson VMI y£S.'//ANOTHER POINT FOR MV FANTASY FOOTBAU TEAM!!' FOR WHAT? IT'S A TIMEOUT. www.FaraSeeThis.com THEY SHOWED OUR WATERBOY ON TELEVISION!!! "Continued from Page 15 Though the Bulldogs were down early, they kept their confidence up in the second half “Going into the second half I was just thinking about keeping the ball out of our defensive third and getting it to the midfielders and forwards so we could have a chance to score,” said se nior defender Keri Skelton. “Although we were down going into the second half, I felt that we still had a great chance at winning the game.” Unable to close the gap on VMI’s lead, the Bulldogs over pursued and the Keydets slammed the door on the Bulldogs with a goal coming off a low liner to the far post from Christelle Ndongo in the 88th minute. Senior goalkeeper Veronica Lazar placed the blame for the Bulldogs’ de fensive woes on her shoulders. “I didn’t play to my potential. It was definitely an off game for me and that is unacceptable,” she said. “Everyone on the field has to be ready the whole 90 minutes; my defense definitely tried to compensate for my off game.” With Big South Conference foe the Presbyterian Blue Hose (5-7-0. 0-2) coming to UNCA on Saturday, Skel ton said they must regain focus and get their first conference victory. “With our conference record 0-2, we pretty much need to forget about the losses and focus on the next game we need to play. As a team, we need to stay focused and practice hard so we can try and get a win for our next game,” she said. “Once we get that win, things will start rolling for us.”