FARMVILLE, Va. – Fourth-seeded High Point got two goals each from Bri Jean-Charles and Kelsey Perrell to stake a 5-0 win over fifth-seeded Longwood in the postseason-opening quarterfinal round of the Big South Championship Saturday evening at Vert Stadium.
 
The Panthers (12-4-4, 6-3-1 Big South) used their home field advantage to hold Longwood to just four shots on goal, giving Big South Defensive Player of the Year Alex Persiani a share of High Point's conference-leading 13th shutout of the year. The win avenged High Point's 1-0 loss to the Lancers in the Big South opener on Sept. 23 and came on a home field in which the Panthers have amassed an 8-1-2 record this season.
 
The three-time Big South Champion Panthers will move on to the conference semifinal round against the winner of No. 1 seed Liberty and No. 8 seed Winthrop, while the Lancers (9-8-2, 5-3-2 Big South) conclude their 2015 season after advancing to the Big South postseason for the third time in their four years of league membership.
 
"Good teams have bad days, and that was exactly what happened to us tonight," said Longwood head coach Todd Dyer. "That first goal was a bit fluky, and that obviously rattled us a bit. From that point on, we allowed too much space to play, too many crosses into our box and then we lost those battles in critical areas. Good teams make you pay for that, and High Point demonstrated that tonight."
 
The Lancers had no answer for High Point's high-powered offense in the first half, surrendering the go-ahead goal to Perrell just 3:52 after the opening whistle. That was the first of two consecutive goals for the Big South All-Conference first team pick, who found the net again in the 25th minute on a putback to put the Panthers up 2-0. That offensive outburst continued just 11 seconds later when Jean-Charles scored her first goal at the 24:20 mark to extend that lead to 3-0.
 
Jean-Charles followed with her second goal in the 58th minute, and Jenny Marshall put the exclamation point on the win with a header off a free kick in the 61st minute.
 
High Point's scoring onslaught came against a Longwood defense that entered the tournament tied for second in the Big South with nine shutouts and third with a 0.97 goals against average. The win was High Point's fifth in the past six games, four of which have been multi-goal efforts.
 
"I hate for it to end like that for our seniors, but it is what it is," Dyer said. "Now we have to pick up the pieces as a program and make sure we grow from this."
 
The loss punctuates a 2015 season in which Longwood finished the regular season in fifth place, earned a record .500 or better for the 10th consecutive year and saw a program-record five players receive Big South postseason awards, including a record three All-Conference first team picks. Two of those Big South winners – first team all-conference midfielder Olivia Colella, first team defender Alana Mackey and second team defender Haylea Witz – will graduate in May, but first team forward Amanda Spencer and Big South All-Freshman selection Sydney Wallace will return to anchor the Lancers next season.
 
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