The High Point University women’s soccer team went to overtime against North Carolina State but fell to the Wolfpack, 1-0, after a goal in the 91st minute on Thursday night at Vert Track, Soccer and Lacrosse Stadium. Senior goalkeeper Andrea Ritchie (Winston-Salem, N.C./Mount Tabor) tied her career-high with 11 saves on the night.

“I thought we did a pretty good job, especially in the first half,” head coach Marty Beall said. “Andrea Ritchie had a huge night and made some big saves for us. NC State is a very good team that plays in the top conference in the country. They came in here and outworked us tonight and that was the difference. We created some good scoring chances, but against teams of this caliber we have to finish.”

Playing in front of a record crowd of 2027, The Panthers held NC State scoreless through the 90 minutes of regulation forcing the ACC team to go to overtime. The Wolfpack had a 22-10 edge in shots in regulation, but was unable to beat Ritchie who enjoyed a career night.

NC State broke the scoreless tie in just the first minute of overtime with a header by Kristina Argiroff off a corner kick. The Wolfpack attacked off the opening kick to earn their eighth corner of the evening and Shelli Spamer sent the cross to the center of the box where Argiroff headed it in.

With the loss, High Point falls to 2-3-1 on the season while NC State improves to 6-1-0.

NC State had the better of the offensive chances in the first half with eight shots including five on goal in the opening 45 minutes but Ritchie stymied the Wolfpack with several impressive saves including a diving stop in traffic in the 12th minute.

Sophomore Kelli Joline (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) had High Point’s best chance of the opening period when she got behind the NC State defense unleashed a shot from the left side of the box to the far post but NC State’s Kim Kern made a diving one-handed save to deny Joline and keep the score knotted at 0-0. Junior Katie Harris (Tabernacle, N.J./Seneca) also tested the Wolfpack keeper with a shot from 30-yards out that ran just over the crossbar.

Coming out of halftime, NC State increased its offensive pressure and had two close-range headers from inside of the six-yard box in the 47th minute, but Ritchie managed to get a hand on both to keep the score tied at 0.

The Panthers’ best opportunity of the night came in the 69th minute when Kern came off her line to clear a cross from freshman Jacky Kessler (Middletown, Md./Middletown) but missed her punch. The ball fell to junior Danielle Schepler (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) whose shot was blocked and the follow by sophomore Becca Hemby (Frederick, Md./Gov. Thomas Johnson) was saved at the line by an NC State defender.

Hemby led HPU with three shots in the game including one on goal while NC State leading scorer Tanya Cain had seven shots and five on goal to pace the Wolfpack. NC State held a 23-10 edge in shots, but High Point finished with an 11-3 advantage in saves. The 11 saves by the Panthers is tied for third-most in a single-game during the HPU Division I era.

High Point returns to the road this weekend when the Panthers head to Morgantown, W.Va., to play the Mountaineers of West Virginia on Sunday, Sept. 11, at 1 p.m. The match will be High Point’s second-straight against a BCS opponent and its third on the season. It will be the first meeting between the two schools.

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