ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The High Point University men's soccer team improved to 4-0-0 in 2012 with a 2-0 win on the road at Navy in Annapolis, Md., on Saturday night. Sophomore Mamadee Nyepon scored two goals in the first 12 minutes to guide the Panthers to a critical road win.

“I am very proud of how we pulled out a hard-earned win over a well-coached Navy team in a challenging environment,” head coach Dustin Fonder said. “We got off the bus ready to play and found two goals early in the match. Unfortunately, sometimes when you do that you take your foot off the gas a little and Navy was able to make it difficult for us the rest of the match.”

For the second-straight game, HPU jumped out to an early lead as Nyepon scored in the eighth minute of play. A long ball was played into the box by senior Shawn Sloan and misplayed by the Navy keeper. The ball fell to Nyepon who put away an easy shot into the middle of the net.

The Panthers doubled their lead just over four minutes later as Nyepon scored his second of the night off a pass from Sloan. Sloan was sprung on the left flank and beat a defender before whipping a cross to the far post. Nyepon beat the keeper to the ball with a slide, connecting on the pass for a 2-0 lead. With his second-straight two-goal game, Nyepon now leads HPU with four goals on the season.

Navy worked hard to get back in the game in the second half with nine shots but managed to put just one on frame. High Point keeper Kody Palmer finished with five saves in the contest on his way to a second-straight clean sheet.

High Point's 4-0-0 start to the season is the program's best since joining Div. I in 1999. The Panther's previous best start came in 2009 when they began the season with a 3-0-0 record before falling to No. 1 Akron.

The Panthers next return home to face inter-triad rival UNC Greensboro on Wednesday, Sept. 12 at 7 p.m. The game is one of seven matchups between the two schools across seven sports that together form the HPU/UNCG Challenge. High Point is 6-14-0 all-time against the Spartans including wins in each of the past two seasons. Last season, HPU pulled out a 2-1 win in the final minute of double-overtime on a goal by Sloan.

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