RADFORD, VA. - Radford scored two goals in the first half and made that stand up as the Highlanders recorded a 2-0 Big South Conference men's soccer victory at Cupp Stadium Saturday night.
The win, RU's third straight, gave the Highlanders their first conference victory of the season, improving their league mark to 1-1. Overall Radford is 6-5-0 this year. Asheville fell to 0-4 in Big South play and 2-8-1 overall. Both teams had momentum entering the game after each won a match last week against an ACC opponent. Radford defeated NC State 2-1 while UNCA posted the same score at Clemson.
The Highlanders applied pressure early on, pushing eight first-half shots at Asheivlle senior keeper Phillip Horner turned away most of the shots with timely saves. It wasn't until the 26th minute that Radford broke through the Bulldog defense when James Leith slipped a through ball into senior Davorin Husadzinovic. Husadzinovic pulled Horner out and one-touched the ball to the left around the UNCA keeper to score RU's first marker.Ten minutes later, senior Will Thomsen scored his first goal of the season on a hard rip from just outside the box following a pinball pass from freshman Brendan Shaffer. RU held the 2-0 into halftime.
Asheville applied hard pressure in the second half and kept the Highlander defense busy, especially late in the period. The Bulldogs took seven second-half shots, forcing Roszel to make several key saves to preserve the shutout. Asheville's pressure also created six second-half corner kicks, compared to none in the first half. Junior Scott Szymanski had a game-high four shots, leading the Bulldog pressure.
UNC Asheville plays next at Wofford Monday night starting at 6 p.m.
