RADFORD – Despite trailing most of the night, Radford had its share of scoring chances before finally converting late.  East Tennessee State, though, got one at exactly the right time.

After the Highlanders tied the game at 1-1 in the 86th minute, ETSU answered less than two minutes later on Terri Miller's goal to give the Buccaneers a 2-1 non-conference women's soccer victory on Friday night at Cupp Stadium.

“It was one of these games that could have gone either way,” head coach Ben Sohrabi said. “But we shouldn't have been in this situation to begin with.”

Radford (2-1-0) launched nine shots in the second half, forcing five saves by ETSU goalkeeper Megan Masch, and finally cashed at 85:30 on senior Justine Dugger's (Purcellville, Va./Notre Dame Academy) blast on a free kick from 35 yards out.

The celebration didn't last long. The Buccaneers (1-3-0) fired right back when a turnover gave the ball to Genna Peterson , who sent Miller a cross from the far side that found the net with the game-winner.

“We had momentum, and pushed to try and end the game in regulation,” Sohrabi said. “We stayed with the formation that we had out there to try and win, and just made a mistake.”

Masch ended the night with seven saves for ETSU, including a stop on a point-blank try from 10 yards out by Dugger in the 82nd minute. In the 68th minute, Masch turned aside a 25-yard rocket off the foot of freshman Dani Gunderson (Newport News, Va./Denbigh).

“We mounted a good comeback, and played great in the second half,” said Sohrabi.  “But we have to play that way for 90 minutes, and that's the lesson we learned tonight.”

ETSU controlled play early and got on the board when Jordan Monty cleaned up a loose ball and scored in the 10th minute off a corner kick, giving the Buccaneers a 1-0 lead.

The Highlanders had their best chance of the opening period five minutes later, when junior Latrice Lee (Woodbridge, Va./Forest Park) beat her defender into the box, but Lee's shot past a challenging Masch drifted off the near side post. 

Radford continues a five-game homestand on Sunday, hosting Marshall at 2 p.m.