The Radford women’s soccer team defeated No. 2 Gardner-Webb, 1-0, and claimed the 2018 Big South Women’s Soccer Tournament Title on Sunday afternoon at the Matthews Sportsplex in Matthews, N.C. The victory gave the Highlanders an automatic NCAA Tournament berth.
The first shot of the match for Radford resulted in the first and only goal of the day. In the eighth minute, Nelia Perez gave Radford a 1-0 lead. She received a pass from Nicole Ray and dribbled down the left side of the field. Perez made a move past a GWU defender and shot the ball from 15 yards out. It went right past the goalkeeper and into the net for the 1-0 advantage. It was Perez’s fifth goal of the season.
Only three minutes had gone by until Gardner-Webb had a golden opportunity to tie it up. The Highlanders were called for a foul in the penalty box in the 11th minute. Stina Kleppe teed up the penalty kick for the Runnin’ Bulldogs. Courtenay Kaplan came up huge as she dove slightly to her right and forced the ball out of bounds. The Highlanders erupted in cheer after the save preserved the early lead.
Radford maintained 52 percent of possession through the first half of play and took 11 shots. Gabi Paupst, Jasmine Casarez and Jessica Wollmann combined for six of them with two shots each. The Highlanders held the Runnin’ Bulldogs to just six first half shots.
The second half began and the possession was back and forth. Holding a 1-0 lead, the Highlanders played with a more defensive strategy throughout the final 45 minutes and only took four shots.
The Runnin’ Bulldogs took two early second half shots, but really pressed up in the final 15 minutes. The Runnin’ Bulldogs had three corner kicks in the final two minutes. However, only one shot resulted from those opportunities and it was blocked.
In the final 30 seconds of play the ball was crossed into the box, but it went out of bounds off a GWU defender with 17 seconds left. Kaplan booted the goal kick deep with four seconds on the clock and the celebration began once the clock ran out.
The biggest play in the match came in the 11th minute when Kaplan came up with a big-time save on the penalty kick. The Runnin’ Bulldog offense could never regain momentum following that play in the early stages of the match. Kaplan picked up seven saves on the way to her 12th win and eighth shutout.
The Highlander defense picked up its 10th shutout victory of the season and sixth in a row.
Radford claimed its sixth Big South Tournament Tournament Title in program history and first since 2012, when the Highlanders defeated Winthrop, 1-0, in the 2012 Big South Tournament. The 16 wins this season also ties a single-season record. The last time Radford picked up 16 wins was in 1997.
“First congratulations to Gardner Webb for a great season,” Ben Sohrabi said. “They are a very good team and gave us all we could handle. I’m so proud of this group. They have ALL been great team players all season. Everyone, and I mean everyone, embraced their role and contributed to this championship. Tournament championships are almost always not the most attractive games.”
“Today we scored a beautiful goal early, made some adjustments late and just kept grinding until the end,” Sohrabi continued. “To get the double – regular season and tournament – puts this group in elite company. This is a special group and I can’t be happier for them, the fans and families, and Highlander nation for this season. Now to the NCAA Tournament. I’m so glad this group has the chance to compete in the biggest stage of all.”
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Jasmine Casarez, Radford (MVP); Nelia Perez, Radford; Courtenay Kaplan, Radford; Jordan Lundin, Radford; Keely Brown, Gardner-Webb; Stina Kleppe, Gardner-Webb; Callista Eckert, Gardner-Webb; Alexa Genas, Campbell; Erin Scott, Campbell; Abbie Ellis, USC Upstate; Emelie Valenciano, USC Upstate; Sidney Doherty, Charleston Southern; Dylan Patterson, Winthrop; Kathryn Miller, Longwood; and Allie Reagan, High Point.
The Highlanders will find out their opponent in the NCAA Tournament on Monday evening.
The field of 64 will be announced on the NCAA Women’s Soccer Selection Show at 4:30 p.m. live streamed on NCAA.com.
–RU Athletics
