HPU Men’s Soccer Loses In Overtime At Pittsburgh, 1-0

• Pittsburgh’s Kevin Murray scored in the 93rd minute to give Pitt a 1-0 win in overtime.
• High Point outshot Pittsburgh, 17-9, in the game and put nine shots on frame.
• Sophomore Renato Punyed and freshmen Ebe Kudolo and Avery Ryan led HPU with three shots apiece.

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The High Point University men’s soccer team fell in overtime at Pittsburgh by a score of 1-0 on Tuesday night in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. HPU put up 17 shots with nine on goal in the game.

“This was a pretty good performance by the team tonight,” head coach Dustin Fonder said. “I thought we had the better of the play throughout much of the game but we need to do a better job in the final third. The guys need to take the pressure off our defense by putting some balls in the net. We have to put ourselves in a position where one mistake doesn’t kill us like it has in a lot of our games this season.”

Despite controlling possession for long stretches and outshooting Pittsburgh by a 17-8 margin in regulation, High Point went into overtime still knotted with Pitt at 0-0. Sophomore Renato Punyed and freshmen Ebe Kudolo and Avery Ryan all had three shots to pace the Panthers.

Pitt broke through with the game winner in the third minute of overtime when Kevin Murray scored from just in front of goal after a cross into the box took a deflection and fell to him at the far post.

Redshirt-junior Kody Palmer made four saves in a losing effort for HPU. Pitt’s Dan Lynd stopped nine High Point shots to earn the win and the shutout.

High Point falls back to .500 at 6-6-1 with the loss while Pittsburgh improves to 4-7-4 overall.

The Panthers return to Big South play this weekend when the team will travel to Rock Hill, South Carolina, to face Winthrop on Saturday, Oct. 25. The game is set to kickoff at 6 p.m.