The High Point University men’s soccer team picked up a 3-1 win over No. 3-seed Campbell in the Big South Quarterfinals at Boiling Springs, N.C., on Thursday night. Senior Karo Okiomah (Austin, Texas/Hendrickson-Pflugerville) and freshman Mamadee Nyepon (Greensboro, N.C./Walter Hines Page) each picked up a goal and assist in the win.

“It was a good win tonight,” assistant coach EJ O’Keeffe said. “We are very happy that we were able to beat a very good and well coached Campbell team. We came out a bit tentative in the first 20 minutes and played like we knew it was a tournament game. After that I thought we played well. Our movement up top was very good, especially in the second half. It was an entire team effort. We were missing some key pieces but came through. Now we need to recover and get ready to play tomorrow.”

The win is High Point’s fourth in a row, improving the Panthers’ overall record to 9-9-2 on the season. Campbell finishes the 2011 season with a 9-9-2 record after the loss.

High Point controlled the run of play through much of the first half but struggled to break down a very composed Campbell defense. HPU almost got on the board in the 20th minute when sophomore Alex Martinez (Rock Hill, S.C./Northwestern) found space on the right side of the box and hit a laser off his right foot that glanced off the crossbar.

The Panthers finally broke the scoreless stalemate late in the first half as Nyepon found Okiomah for a goal in the 39th minute of play. Nyepon carried the ball into the left flank and hit a low cross into the box. Okiomah made a run up the center of the pitch and one-touched the ball into the net from just in front of the frame to put HPU up, 1-0. The goal was Okiomah’s seventh of the season.

Following the halftime break, High Point doubled its lead in the 55th minute as Nyepon scored from close range to make the score 2-0. High Point earned a free kick just beyond the halfline which redshirt-junior Ryan Bennett (Cary, N.C./Cary Christian) delivered into the box. Okiomah out jumped two defenders and headed the ball to the feet of Nyepon who beat the keeper from eight-yards out for his fifth goal of the season.

Okiomah almost found his second goal of the game less than one minute later when he got behind the defense on the left side. The forward dribbled in on Campbell keeper Ethan Hall and hit a shot to the far post but the ball hit off the inside edge of the post and bounced back into play.

The score remained 2-0 until the 72nd minute when Campbell’s Jared Girard scored from distance to pull the Camels back within one at 2-1. Girard controlled the ball on the left side of the field and turned with a defender on his back and lofted a ball to the far post. The shot caught Michael Chesler (Highland, Utah/Mountain View) off guard and dropped into the net.

High Point sealed the game in the 81st minute with a goal by Martinez to push the lead back to two at 3-1. Junior Shane Malcolm (Sunrise, Fla./Piper) controlled a loose ball in the midfield and hit a through ball up the center of the pitch. Martinez split two defenders and touched the ball around Hall before finishing in the empty net for his team-high 11th goal of the season.

The Panthers finished with a 15-10 edge in shots in the game and a 6-2 advantage in shots on goal. Chesler made one save on the night to pick up his ninth win of the season and the 42nd of his career.

High Point advances on to the Big South Semifinals on Friday, Oct. 11. The Panthers will face the winner of the game between No. 2 Gardner-Webb and No. 7 Winthrop at 7 p.m. HPU picked up a 6-0 win over Winthrop at home and fell to Gardner-Webb, 2-0, on the road during the regular season.