Radford, Birmingham-Southern Remain Unbeaten in Men's Soccer
Radford 3, UNC Asheville 1
Junior Taylor Rowe got a birthday gift Saturday, scoring RU’s first goal to spark a 3-1 Big South win over UNC Asheville at Patrick D. Cupp Memorial Stadium on Homecoming. The win, which came in front of a record crowd of 1,750, keeps the Highlanders’ perfect in league play at 4-0 and improves their overall record to 7-3. It marks the first time since 1998 that Radford has started Big South play at 4-0. RU, which still has games against Birmingham-Southern, Winthrop and Liberty, cannot finish under .500 in the Big South. UNCA falls to 2-6-1 overall and 1-2 in conference play. Rowe scored early in the game, firing a shot off a pass from sophomore Paul Caruso that Bulldog sophomore keeper Michael Pereira could not control, scoring the marker at 9:53. RU maintained the 1-0 lead into halftime, but just six minutes into the second half, senior Patrick Colas’ shot from the top of the box rocketed past Pereira to give the Highs a 2-0 lead at 51:43. Senior Andres Hernandez, who led RU in shots with four, tallied his first goal of the season late in the game at 73:29 off a pass from senior Fernando Ramos for Radford’s final goal of the game. UNC Asheville spoiled the shutout at the 88:41 mark when freshman Aaron Harcz booted a free kick over the RU defensive wall and into the upper 90, out of the reach of Radford senior keeper Omar Zinoveev. The Highlanders led the shot totals 17-7 and the shots on goal 11-6. Corner kicks were nearly even, with UNCA holding a 4-3 lead. Pereira made eight saves while Zinoveev had five. Radford will take a week off before hosting Birmingham-Southern Oct. 16 at 1:00 pm at Cupp Stadium. The Bulldogs will step out of conference for a Wednesday match at Davidson at 7:00 pm.
Birmingham-Southern 3, VMI 2
Floreal Pedrazo scored on a penalty kick with 9:17 left in the match to cap an amazing Birmingham-Southern comeback and give the Panthers a 3-2 win over Virginia Military Institute at the BSC Soccer Park Saturday. The Panthers (6-3-1; 3-0-1 Big South) trailed 2-0 with just under 20 minutes left before exploding for three goals. Douglas Eckhardt headed in a Pedrazo feed off a free kick to cut the VMI lead to 2-1 with 19:03 left in the game. Pedrazo knocked in the equalizer five minutes later off a cross from Matt Barcelona. Pedrazo was tackled in the box by VMI’s Jeremy Clement to set up the penalty kick with 9:17 to go. VMI had a couple of chances to tie the game late only to be turned away by the BSC defense and goalkeeper Joe Nasco. Keith Simpson appeared to have the game tying goal in his sites with 5:34 left only to see Nasco make a diving save to block the attempt. Simpson had another attempt later with an open net only to have a BSC defender clear the ball from the box. The Keydets (5-5-1; 0-2-0 Big South) took a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute when Josh Hanna scored on an assist from Kevin Aldrich. VMI held the 1-0 lead until the 49th minute when Wythe Horbal headed in a pass from Charles Nweke. Birmingham-Southern hits the road next weekend for matches against Liberty and Radford. The Panthers play Liberty at 6 p.m. on Friday and Radford at 12 p.m. on Sunday.
Liberty at Longwood, rained out
The Liberty Flames non-conference men's soccer match with the Longwood Lancers, scheduled for this evening in Farmville,Va., has been postponed due to inclement weather. No make-up date has yet to be determined. The Flames return to action on Tuesday evening when they host VMI in a Big South Conference match. Game time at the Liberty Soccer Field is set for 7 p.m.