Davidson and High Point Play to 1-1 Draw

Tuesday, September 15

Davidson, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

Davidson College

2-1-2

High Point

1-2-2

OT 3

OT 4

High Point

Davidson

Photo by: Tim Cowie - DavidsonPhotos.com

9/15/2015 9:58:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Highlights | DavidsonPhotos.com

DAVIDSON, N.C. – Despite combining for 32 shots, Davidson and High Point played to a 1-1 draw in non-conference men's soccer action Tuesday evening at Alumni Stadium.

"I commend High Point," said head coach Matt Spear. "They have some quality ingredients, they dug in and pushed hard tonight, and I expect them to gel further as a good team."

In addition to extending their home-unbeaten streak to 14 straight dating back to 2013, the Wildcats move to 2-1-2 on the season.

"The positives are that we continued our home-unbeaten streak, we responded from going a goal down, and were able to spread the minutes around to 17 players. Nathan Marder was important off the bench, as was Aidan Peterson who showed more glimpses of his ability."

High Point (1-2-2) held a 17-15 edge in shots, while Davidson finished with a 9-5 margin in corner kicks.

Justin Shear put High Point in front 10 minutes into the match when he capitalized on a miscue by a Wildcat defender inside the 6-yard box.

"We had a slow start, we needed more conviction. And thus we put ourselves in a deserved hole having to play from a goal down."

In the 32nd minute, it was Davidson's turn to take advantage of a poor clearance as Valeriy Sviderskiy flicked in the equalizer for his 18th career strike.

"Val was tough for them to handle throughout the game, and it was his work rate and opportunism that earned the tying goal," Spear said.

"We got on the guys at halftime, and they showed better as the game wore on in terms of our ball movement, more urgency in defending, and surging up and down the pitch connected together."

With under six minutes to play in the second overtime, the Wildcats' Shane Macnamara just missed a game-winner as Kody Palmer made a diving save on the senior's free kick from just outside the box.

"Shane Macnamara continues to be our general and to elevate in tough times, as does his counterpart Christian Fechter. Those two are essential pieces in our puzzle."

Davidson also had multiple scoring chances late in regulation, but was unable to find the back of the net.

"Their keeper made a few critical saves, none bigger than the point blank chance in the last couple minutes in regulation," commented Coach Spear.

Palmer had a game-high eight saves, while Matt Pacifici turned away seven shots for Davidson.

"Like every game, we learn and move on. We now focus on recovery and preparing for the west coast trip, playing the top-two programs in the Bay area. It will be a fun trip, and we enter each match with optimism and with the aims of improving, rising to the occasion, and playing to win," said Spear.

Up Next
Davidson will travel to the West Coast this weekend for a pair of contests. The Wildcats will face California on Friday at 7:30 p.m. before taking on No. 4 Stanford on Sunday at 3 p.m.