BUIES CREEK, N.C. - Sophomore Tunji Osifeso scored his third goal of the season with just under five minutes to play, but Campbell could not complete the late rally as High Point earned a 2-1 win at the Eakes Athletics Complex on Wednesday evening.
Ebe Kudolo scored twice for the Panthers (8-6-1, 5-1-0 BSC), who put 15 shots on goal compared to only one for the Camels. Campbell (5-9-0, 2-4-0 BSC) held a slight 7-6 edge in corner kicks, but could not capitalize on that advantage for a score.
Redshirt freshman Matthew Mozynski made nine saves while playing the full 90 minutes for Campbell, and Camel defenders were credited with four additional team saves on the night. Kody Palmer played the full match for High Point but did not record a save.
High Point applied pressure early, recording its first shot on goal just under two minutes into the match off the foot of Pat Shelton. Mamadee Nyepon, the Big South Conference's leading scorer in 2014, got off a shot in the fifth minute but was stopped by Mozynski.
Campbell threatened with a quick trio of corners over a three minutes span, including back-to-back attempts from the right side by sophomore Julian Santia in the 17th minute, but could not break the early deadlock.
Kudolo put the Panthers ahead at the 22:36 mark on his first shot of the night. Renato Punyed played a short dribble pass straight ahead to the top of the box, and Kudolo collected it with enough space for a shot that beat Mozynski low to the left for a 1-0 advantage.
Despite surrendering the goal, Mozynski responded with a pair of strong saves against High Point's Irvin Ramirez in the 31st and 33rd minutes, the second coming off a corner served up by Austin Yearwood.
Freshman Bradley Farias, Campbell's leading scorer this season, fired the first shot of the night for the Camels in the 44th minute, but his attempt sailed just high and Campbell entered the locker room trailing 1-0.
Campbell found a flurry of shots early in the second half from Farias, junior Reafe Anderson and senior Jhuvon Francis, but each of the three attempts went wide of the net as the Camels sought an equalizer.
Nyepon was awarded a penalty kick at 60:20 after a hard foul in the box by Mozynski, who was cautioned for the action. The nation's leader in goals per game went for the low right corner on the penalty, but Mozynski made a diving save and batted the chance wide right of the goal to set up a corner kick.
As a team, Campbell made five saves over a six-minute period midway through the half, including a pair of defensive saves by freshman Travis Gonzalez in the 70th minute. The West Palm Beach, Fla., native later matched the effort in the 76th minute, clearing a pair of shots on goal off the line.
Kudolo struck again for the Panthers at 74:43 for a 2-0 lead. Set up by a short pass from the right side by Ben Burdon, Kudolo curled a hard shot into the top right corner from 25 yards out for his second goal of the night.
In the final 10 minutes of the match, weather became a factor as a heavy downpour began. At the 85:26 mark, Osifeso was able to pull one goal back for the Camels with a strike from 15 yards out. Senior Scooter Oliver dumped off a pass to freshman Hernan Mogollon, who found Osifeso from the left side with the space to beat Palmer one-on-one on the attempt.
Campbell will be back in action for the final tilt of its three-match homestand on Saturday at 7 p.m. as Winthrop comes to the Eakes Athletics Complex. The Camels own an 11-match winning streak over the Eagles, their longest active streak over a single opponent, and defeated Winthrop 2-1 in Rock Hill, S.C., last season.
