Two second-half goals in a span of 45 seconds propelled the High Point University men’s soccer team to a come-from-behind 3-2 win over VCU in the Fox Soccer/NSCAA National Game of the Week on a cold and rainy Friday night at Vert Stadium.

Juniors Fejiro Okiomah (Austin, Texas/Hendrickson-Pflugerville) and Shane Malcolm (Sunrise, Fla./Piper) each found the back of the net in the 80th minute to turn a 2-1 deficit to a 3-2 lead in front of a crowd of 1,715 on hand and a national television audience.

“I was really pleased with the team and the way we started the game,” head coach Dustin Fonder said. “We had the right energy and turned VCU over in places we wanted to turn them over. Late in the first half they got their foot on the game, but we went in at halftime and challenged the guys and got them unified. In the second half, we did a good job of upping the tempo and creating more chances and out of that we found two goals. To come out and get a win on national television and showcase our brand of soccer will be great for our program for years to come.”

The win improves High Point’s record to 6-9-2 on the season while the Rams fall to 9-8-0.

The Panthers took an early 1-0 lead in the match with a goal by junior Shawn Sloan (Geneva, Ill./Geneva) in the 21st minute of action. Sloan received a pass from freshman Leon Carby (West Hartford, Conn./Watkinson) and dribbled into space 25 yards from net before ripping a shot past VCU keeper Josh Pantazelos for his fourth goal of the season.

VCU answered back to tie the game at 1-1 in the 31st minute when forward Jason Johnson scored off a rebound from just in front of goal. The Ram’s Yoram Mwila managed to put a header on frame off a corner kick that was saved by senior Michael Chesler (Highland, Utah/Mountain View). The rebound fell right to Johnson who scored from two-yards out.

Johnson picked up his second goal of the game eight minutes later with a bicycle kick from eight-yards out to put VCU up 2-1. Kharlton Belmer found space down the left flank and sent a cross to Johnson in the box. Johnson settled the ball and with Okiomah on his back, flipped it up to himself for the bicycle finish.

The score remained 2-1 until late in the second half when Sloan found Okiomah at the near post on a corner kick from the left side to tie the game at 2-2 in the 80th minute. Sloan hit a in-swinging kick to the near post where Okiomah outmuscled two defenders to head the ball into the net for his first goal of the season.

High Point quickly regained possession after play restarted and less than a minute later found the back of the net again as Malcolm scored with a shot from 15-yards out off a rebound from a shot by sophomore Alex Martinez (Rock Hill, S.C./Northwestern). Malcolm set Martinez free with a pass out to the right flank where Martinez took one touch before hitting a shot back towards the far post. Pantazelos managed to make the save but the rebound fell right to Malcolm who hammered it home with his first touch to give the panthers a 3-2 lead.

Virginia Commonwealth pushed forward looking for the tying goal and in the final seconds earned a free kick from just outside the box but the kick was well over the crossbar by Nick Rich as time expired.

HPU finished the game with a 19-17 edge in shots thanks in large part to a 12-8 advantage in the second half. The Rams finished with a 9-6 advantage in shots on goal and a 9-2 edge in corner kicks. 

Chesler made a season-high seven saves in the game to pick up his sixth win of the season for High Point. The win was the senior’s 40th of his career making him the first HPU keeper to reach the 40-win mark in the team’s Division I era.

High Point returns to Big South conference play on Tuesday, Nov. 1, when the team will kick off the final week of the regular season with a home game against new Big South member Campbell. The match will be HPU’s final home match of the season and will serve as Senior Day for the Panthers. High Point is 3-8-2 in 13 all-time meetings with the Camels.