BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Radford scored a season-high four goals, and held off High Point late in the second half to win 4-3 and advance to the Big South men's soccer tournament semifinals.
The seventh-seeded Highlanders (5-8-3) will face the No. 3 seed, Liberty, at 7 p.m. on Saturday. Liberty moved on with a 1-0 win over UNC Asheville in the third quarterfinal game.
Gardner-Webb's on-campus facility, Greene-Harbison Stadium, is the site for the tournament, which was moved from High Point due to drenching rains from Tropical Storm Ida from throughout the week.
Freshmen
James Jordan (Dartford, England/Dartford Grammar) and
Brian Gwanzura (Harare, Zimbabwe/Harare) scored first half goals for Radford.
Jordan scored in the 20th minute to tie the match at 1-1, after Karo Okiomah gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead less than a minute earlier. Gwanzura netted one just before halftime off senior
Justin Zimmer's (Chesapeake, Va./Hickory) corner kick.
In the second half, junior
Brendan Shaffer (Haymarket, Va./Battlefield) and sophomore I
yiola Awosika (London, England/Aylesbury Grammar) added tallies to give the Highlanders a 4-1 lead.
Shaffer scored in the 53rd minute on a free kick, when senior
Daryn Patricio (Johannesburg, South Africa/King Edward VII) tapped the ball to Shaffer, who ripped it in from 20 yards out.
Awosika's game-winner in the 72nd gave the Highlanders cushion they needed, as High Point scored twice in the final 17:23. Shawn Sloan connected on a penalty kick a minute after Awosika's goal and Okiomah scored off Hilaire Babou's pass in the 83rd minute.