No. 1 Radford Advances to Title Match with 2-0 Win Over No. 4 Campbell
Jasmine Casarez picked up the 10
th multi-goal match of her career en route to a 2-0 semifinal victory over No. 4 Campbell on Friday at the Matthews Sportsplex. With the win, the Highlanders will play for the Big South Championship on Sunday at 2 p.m.
The scoring began early for Radford as Casarez's first goal came in the 10
thminute. There was a scrum for the ball on the Campbell side of the field, right in front of the goal. The ball found its way to Casarez with space and she converted. Erin Scott, the Camel goalkeeper was out of position due to the scrum and Casarez popped the ball up just past her and it found the back of the net for the score.
The lead was not in jeopardy at all in the first half as the Camels only fired two shots. Radford held a 10-2 lead in shots at the end of the first half.
Early into the second half,
Jessica Wollmann raced down the left side of the field and found
Nelia Perez, via a cross, in the middle of the box with a defender around her. Perez headed the ball to Casarez, who was in the middle of two defenders, and shot the ball to the right of the keeper. The score gave the Highlanders a 2-0 advantage in the 58
th minute. The Highlander defense never let up and Campbell was only able to take one shot in the second half. Radford totaled 24 shots in the match and held the Fighting Camels to only three. The shutout victory is the ninth shutout this season for the Highlanders and fifth in a row. It will be Radford's first trip to Big South Title game since 2013.
MOMENT THAT MATTERED
Radford scored the first goal in 10 minutes and about eight minutes later, the game was suspended due to heavy rain. After the 45-minute delay, the Highlanders came out on fire and totaled 10 first half shots and maintained possession throughout the half.
STAT OF THE MATCH
The Highlanders held the Fighting Camels to three shots – the least taken by any team this season. Radford also held Campbell to three shots on October 28, 2017.
RECORD BROKEN
With Casarez's fourth shot of the night she set a single-season record for shots at Radford. The old record was 99, held by Melissa Gaitka, who claimed the record in 1994. Casarez now has 107 shots this season.
QUOTABLE
"I was very proud of how we play tonight from the beginning to the end,"
Ben Sohrabi said. "We played for 90 minutes. We created lots of chances and they're keeper came up a big several times. The conditions were tough and we had to change your style because of the wet terrain and I thought our team responded extremely well. We look forward to the championship and would love all the Highlanders to come to Charlotte and support us."