Ian Rees (8) of the Camels uses his head en route to MVP honors.
(Photo/Bennett Scarborough)

BUIES CREEK — Campbell scored four times in the first 30 minutes and completed a men’s soccer double Sunday when the top-seeded Camels defeated High Point 4-1 in the Big South Conference tournament championship at the Eakes Athletic Complex.

Ranked No. 29 in the latest College Soccer News poll, the Camels (16-2-2) ran their unbeaten streak to 14 matches (13-0-1) and added the Big South tournament title — and automatic berth in the NCAA College Cup — to their 2019 regular-season crown.

Campbell swept to its second-straight Big South tourney championship by outscoring its two opponents by a 7-1 margin and ran its home record to 10-0-1 this year. The Camels have outscored their guests by a 34-3 margin this season at the Eakes Complex.

Campbell claimed its sixth Big South tournament title by jumping in front in the 10th minute and adding goals in the 13th, 25th and 30th minutes.

Sophomore Matt Lock put the Camels ahead just 9:11 into the contest when he headed home Franck Momo’s serve at the back post. Junior Thibaut Jacquel, who entered the game as the nation’s third-leading scorer, got his 17th goal of the season just 3:17 later when he controlled the ball at the top of the area and sent it past High Point keeper Keegan Meyer.

Senior Ian Rees, who was named tournament MVP, flicked on Moses Mensah’s long throw in the box off the right post for his fifth goal of the year at 24:38. Red-shirt freshman Jalen James dribbled by three High Point defenders into the area and netted his third of the season at 29:37.

Ilias Kosmidis scored for High Point in the 34th minute on a right-footed effort in the box for his ninth goal of the year, but the Panthers were unable to beat Camel keeper Samuel Lechuga again.

Campbell improved to 15-0-1 when scoring first and 12-0-0 when leading at the half after finishing with a 14-8 edge in shots, including a 9-4 margin in attempts on target. Lechuga finished with three saves, while Meyer had five.

“It’s great to cap it off with a win, because now we are an automatic qualifier for the NCAA tournament,” said CU coach Dustin Fonder. “We have an incredibly bought-in locker room. They are a total unit. We defend as a group. We attack as a group and do everything together.

“I’m pleased that Ian was chosen for the MVP award because he doesn’t get a lot of individual accolades. Ian is in great form. He’s scored four goals in the last four games and is the glue for us defensively.”

High Point midfielder Ryan Inman nearly scored off the second half kickoff when he hit the cross bar from about 55 yards out. The Panthers’ best chance of the final period came after 73 minutes when Kosmidis broke free behind the Camel back four, but Lechuga charged off his line to make a point-blank save.

Senior defender Gideon Betz, Jacquel and James joined Rees on the all-tournament team. Alessandro Sobacchi, Jonathan Bolanos and Kosmidis represented the Panthers on the all-tourney side.

After posting a perfect 8-0 mark in regular season play and a pair of tournament victories, Campbell claimed its first Big South regular-season and tournament sweep since 1985. CU allowed only one goal in five matches while winning the 2018 and 2019 league tourneys.

The Camels will learn their NCAA tournament destination Monday at 1 p.m. when the College Cup field will be announced on NCAA.com.

Campbell has not trailed in its last 765 minutes of action, a span of more than eight complete matches. The last time the Camels fell behind their opponent was in the 15th minute at Winthrop on Oct. 9.

Campbell improved to 6-3 all-time in Big South title matches, while High Point dropped to 0-5 in league tournament finals.

2019 Big South Championship All-Tournament Team: Ian Rees (MVP) (Campbell), Gideon Betz (Campbell), Thibaut Jacquel (Campbell), Jalen James (Campbell), Alessandro Sobacchi (High Point), Ilias Kosmidis (High Point), Jonathan Bolanos (High Point), Alain Degato (Gardner-Webb), Abel Gabrekiros (Gardner-Webb), Luca Ziegler (Presbyterian), Sergio Pinto (Presbyterian), Miles Rapp (Winthrop), Victor Valls (Radford)

(Campbell media services provided the basis for this report)