HIGH POINT, N.C. - The High Point men's soccer team opened its 2013 home schedule with a 2-0 win over Navy on Saturday night in Vert Stadium. Junior Mamadee Nyepon and redshirt-freshman Pat Shelton each scored for HPU in the win.

"This was a great win tonight," head coach Dustin Fonder said. "We are finally getting enough guys healthy that we can put a team on the field and have enough depth to bring in subs that can contribute. Twenty-percent of our improvement has been us getting healthy but the rest has been a mentality change. We were gutted after the loss at South Carolina and have shown a great response since then."

High Point took a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute on Nyepon's fifth goal of the season. Freshman Jonathan Ware dribbled up the right flank and hit a cross to senior Adam Sewell at the top of the box. The midfielder passed it up to Nyepon who finished with a high shot from seven-yards out.

Down 1-0, Navy came out quick at the start of the second half and controlled possession as it tried to find an equalizing goal. The Midshipmen consistently pushed into the High Point defensive third over the first 20 minutes of the period, but were unable to breakdown a composed HPU backline.

The Panthers doubled their lead in the 70th minute with a goal by Shelton from just outside the penalty area. Redshirt-sophomore Cameron Foster played a ball into the box from deep in the midfield and Nyepon chested the ball back to Shelton. The redshirt-freshman settled the ball with his first touch before ripping a line drive shot into the side netting past the diving Navy keeper. The goal was the second of the season for Shelton.

Redshirt-sophomore Kody Palmer made five saves in net for HPU to earn his second-straight clean sheet. The keeper came off his line several times to disrupt the Navy attack and preserved the shutout in the closing minutes when he pushed a shot from distance over the crossbar and out of danger.

The win was High Point's second in a row and it improves the Panthers record to 2-3-0 on the season. Navy drops to 1-2-2 with the loss.

High Point returns to the road on Tuesday, Sept. 17, when the team will travel to Blacksburg, Va., to take on Virginia Tech. The game is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m.

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