The Camels celebrate after claiming the Big South crown.
(Campbell photo/Carlos Morales)
HIGH POINT — Campbell ran its unbeaten streak to 12 matches in men’s soccer and claimed its first regular season conference title in a decade after defeating High Point 2-1 Saturday night at Vert Stadium.
Alex Egeonu and Ian Rees scored first-half goals and Samuel Lechuga made two game-saving saves in the final half hour as the Camels (14-2-2, 8-0) claimed the top seed and home field advantage in the Big South Conference Tournament.
“Our guys really worked hard and wanted a regular-season championship,” said Camels coach Dustin Fonder. “High Point’s a very good opponent with a really good senior class, and to come in here and win against those quality players at their place is a good achievement.”
Egeonu put the Camels in front in the 34th minute when Thibaut Jacquel laid off the ball to him in the area and the junior from Dallas drove a low shot just inside the left post for his sixth goal of the season.
The Panthers (11-6, 6-1) equalized just 1:13 later when Jonathan Bolanos shed a defender and slid the ball by Lechuga for his second goal of the year.
Campbell jumped back in front just 1:27 before halftime when a failed clearance fell to Rees’ feet and the senior midfielder drove the ball into the right side for his third goal of the year.
In the 62nd minute, Lechuga came off his line to deflect Ilias Kosmidis’ shot in the box from point-blank range. Ten minutes later, Lechuga had to leave his feet for a full-stretch save when Ryan Inman hit a right-footed blast that was headed for the top right corner.
Twice in the last 10 minutes the Camels nearly added an insurance goal, but Moses Mensah’s shot stayed wide of the right post, and Alemu Mercer-Miko shot into the arms of High Point keeper Keegan Meyer.
CU went through the entire league season without trailing and finished with a 33-6 goal differential against Big South foes.
The Camels earned their first conference regular-season crown since 2009 when CU was a member of the Atlantic Sun. Campbell also produced its first unbeaten league regular-season record since the 2008 squad finished 9-0 in the A-Sun.
With a bye on the league’s final regular-season match day Wednesday, Campbell will prepare to face the fourth or fifth seed when it hosts the league semifinal on Wednesday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m. The highest remaining seed with host the Big South final on Sunday, Nov. 17, at 2 p.m.
“Tonight’s game was really important in that it decided home field advantage for the Big South Championship,” Fonder said. “We feel that we have a distinct home-field advantage. We love playing at home, our guys are undefeated there this year. Now that we have that advantage, it’s important that we use these next 11 days wisely so that come next Wednesday (Nov. 13) in the semifinals, we’re sharp and ready.”
Saturday’s result extended Campbell’s record over the last 12 matches to 11-0-1, the team’s longest unbeaten streak since the 2008 squad won 12 in a row. Six wins in that 12-match string have come on the road.
Campbell finished with a 17-9 edge in shots Saturday night, which saw its five-match win streak halted. CU improved to 3-1-2 against the Panthers under the direction of Fonder, who saw head coach at High Point for eight seasons before taking over the Camel program in 2015. The Camels also ended High Point’s two-year Big South regular season title run and are the only team to defeat or draw with the Panthers (2-0-1) in conference play over the last three years.
(Campbell media services provided the basis for this report)
