Radford Wins Big South Men's Soccer Championship
RADFORD, Va. – An header from Big South Preseason Player of the Year
Sivert Daehlie in the 85th minute proved to be the eventual game-winner, as top-seeded Radford earned its first Big South Men’s Soccer Championship since 2000 with a 1-0 victory over No. 6 seed Longwood Sunday afternoon at Cupp Stadium.
With the victory, the Highlanders earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Championship and will learn their tournament fate on Monday at 1 p.m. during the NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Selection Show. Radford enters the NCAA Tournament with a 14-3-2 overall record.
As the teams were scoreless when they entered the 84th minute, RU earned a corner kick and pushed forward. Senior
Fraser Colmer sent a cross into the Longwood box and it was cleared away for a moment. As the Highlander backline collected the ball once again, a pass went far side to Colmer, who sent in another cross. This time, the ball found the head of a streaking Daehlie, who notched his fifth goal of the season and gave RU the late 1-0 advantage.
On the defensive end, Radford goalkeeper
Aitor Pouseu Blanco earned his 10th shutout of the season, which breaks the conference record. The redshirt junior corralled two saves, which matched his counterpart, Longwood’s
Carlos Canas. With Pouseu Blanco’s clean sheet, the goalkeeper earned Tournament MVP honors, becoming the first Highlander to claim the honor since
Jonathan Frias in 2000.
Radford totaled 10 shots for the match, as
Evan Szklennik and
Victor Valls paced the team with two shots apiece. On the opposite end, the Lancers tallied eight shots, as
Finnlay Wyatt led the club with three.
Big South Men’s Soccer All-Tournament Team
Aitor Pouseu Blanco, Radford (MVP)
Bismark Amofah, Radford
Jo Vetle Rimstad, Radford
Fraser Colmer, Radford
Dan Campos, Longwod
Finnlay Wyatt, Longwood
Carlos Canas, Longwood
Mason Lewis, Presbyterian
Sergio Pinto, Presbyterian
Renato Punyed, High Point
Johnny Fenwick, High Point
Andrew Lawrence, UNC Asheville
Kyle Carr, Liberty