RADFORD, Va. – Radford's Mary Wiley scored in her fourth consecutive match, but a stingy defensive battle led to a 1-1 draw with Charleston Southern Friday night at Patrick D. Cupp Memorial Stadium.

Both teams recorded their first draw of the season as they moved to an identical 8-4-1 (2-0-1 BSC).

Highlander freshman Julie Ruh'e had a golden opportunity to net the game-winner, but her chance on a breakaway sailed wide right in the 96th minute.

Charleston Southern's Allison Lewis rattled off two shots in the 92nd minute, only to be denied twice by Radford keeper Che' Brown.

Wiley's strike in the 34th minute allowed Radford to take a 1-0 advantage. A cross from Ruh'e in front of the goal set up the open shot for Wiley, who buried it to the lower left net.

The Buccaneers' Michelle Dennis evened the score at 1-1 just 1:12 into the second half. Dennis took the ball from the Highlander defense, fired a straightaway shot and found the back of the net.

“I think our chemistry up top with Julie (Ruh'e) and Mary (Wiley) was good, we created enough opportunities to win the game, but we just have to finish better. I hate to use the word battle or war in a soccer game, but tonight's game was exactly that and I give our team a lot of credit for the battle they put in tonight,” said head coach Ben Sohrabi.

Brown recorded the first double-digit save performance of her career with 10 stops and freshman Tyler Drake did a sensational job marking the nation's leading scorer, Marky Boyce. Drake and the Highlander defense ended Boyce's four-game goal streak.

“As a team, we did good adjusting to their attack and our defense did an amazing job of shutting down the leading scorer in the nation,” said Brown.

“Charleston Southern's attack did very well moving constantly off the ball,” said Drake. “We just had to communicate in the back and it was a very good team effort.”

A plethora of scoring chances for both teams presented themselves in the first half. Drake collected a loose ball in the box off a corner and fired a shot, but the Buccaneers defense made a team save to keep the game scoreless.

Wiley saw a chance to put Radford ahead early on a long run setup by a back flick by Ruh'e. Wiley took the ball up the near side of the field, tried to shoot to the lower farside, but a diving Amy Arroyo made the stop.

Charleston Southern's Marky Boyce lofted a shot in the 31st minute, but an outstretched Brown punched the ball up and off the cross bar. Emma Krantz tried to tap in the loose ball but Brown quickly recovered to make the crucial save.

Boyce also attempted a shot 2:15 into the match, but the strike from ten yards out nicked the left post and rolled out of bounds.

The next match for the Highlanders comes on Sunday at 2 p.m. when they take on Coastal Carolina.