Womens soccer team gears up for the 2017 Season
By Collin Giuliani
After losing in overtime of the Big South Championship against Liberty University, the High Point Panthers will be looking to win the Big South Conference in 2017 for the sixth time in school history, and for the first time since 2014. Last season, the Panthers had the best regular season record in the conference, as they finished 7-1-1 in conference play. It was the first time that HPU had the best regular season record in the conference since 2012, and the third time in school history that this occurred.
While the Panthers only lost three seniors from last year’s team, these seniors played a critical part in HPU’s success last season. Midfielder Meg Kowalski started all 21 games for HPU last season, and in her two seasons with the Panthers, started 40 out of a possible 42 games. Additionally, the Panthers lose forward Kelsey Perrell, who was named the Big South Attacking Player of the Year last season. Perrell scored 9 goals last season, which was the second best total in the entire Big South Conference, and finished her career with 23 goals scored, which is the third most goals that any High Point player has scored in the Division I era (1999-present).
Despite the losses, the Panthers bring back most of the core from last year’s team, including senior goalkeeper Alex Hank, who became the first HPU player to ever be named the Big South Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. In her first three seasons, Hank has recorded 28 wins and 20 shutouts, while allowing just 0.81 goals per game. All three of these marks are school records. Hank was named the Big South Defensive Player of the Year in 2015, and was named to the All-Big South Second Team in 2016.
Midfielder Becca Rolfe, who scored the overtime game-winning goal in the semifinals of the Big South Tournament against Longwood, returns for her senior season. Rolfe has made it onto the Big South First Team in each of the past two seasons, and made it onto the Big South Second Team in 2014 as a freshman. If she makes it on the First Team again, she will join Jen Evans, who played from 2002-2007, as the only HPU players to ever make it onto an All-Conference team four times.
Of HPU’s eight players to score multiple goals last season, six of them return for the 2017 season. Redshirt-senior forward Bailey Beattie, who scored three goals in her first two seasons with the Panthers combined, scored four goals in 2016, and finished second on the team in points scored. Additionally, Beattie led the Panthers with five assists, and finished tied for fifth in the Big South Conference in this category. Forward Bri Jean-Charles scored four goals in 2016, and has scored ten goals in the past two seasons combined. She, alongside Beattie, returns for her senior season.
The Panthers begin their season on Aug. 18, when they play on the road at Appalachian State. Their first game at Vert Stadium will be on Aug. 25 against Ohio. Non-conference play concludes on Sept. 17 with a home game against Marshall, and conference play begins the following weekend on Sept. 23 with a road game against Longwood.
HPU is picked to finish second in the Big South according to the preseason poll, as Liberty enters the season as the preseason favorite. Liberty won the Big South Tournament last season, and this season, will look to become the first school in conference history to win the Big South Tournament three years in a row. The Big South Tournament will begin on Oct. 27, with the quarterfinal matchups taking place at the higher seed, and will conclude on Nov. 5, with the semifinals and final taking place at Bryan Park in Greensboro.