BOX SCORE

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Despite playing to a scoreless draw, Radford fell to Liberty on penalty kicks 5-4 in the opening round of the 2011 Big South Tournament Thursday afternoon at Greene-Harbison Stadium on the campus of Gardner-Webb.
 
Tied at 3-3 after five penalty kicks each, the two teams went into sudden death attempts. After trading makes and misses on attempts six and seven, respectively, Liberty's Juan Nino answered a Highlander miss by converting his club's eighth attempt. 

Luis Grande (Caracas, Venezuela / U.E. Colegio Los Arcos), Bernardo Ulmo (Sao Paulo, Brazil / South Kent), Anthony Payne (Manassas, Va. / Osbourn Park) and Carter Mills (Culpeper, Va. / Culpeper County) made good on their attempts for Radford.
 
The Highlanders conclude the season 9-8-2 overall, while the Flames move to 9-6-2 and will face the winner of No. 1 Coastal Carolina / No. 8 UNC Asheville in tomorrow's semifinals.
 
Radford had a few scoring chances late in regulation, including looks by all-conference selections Iyiola Awosika (London, England / Aylesbury Grammar) and Grande, but were unable to capitalize.
 
In the 84^th minute, Grande played a pass ahead of the Flame defense, but Dario Redondo (Woodbridge, Va. / Garfield) was unable finish.
 
Ryan Taylor (Midlothian, Va. / Midlothian) recorded one save for the Highlanders, while teammate Dane Wilson (Cincinnati, Ohio / Princeton) came up with some impressive stops of his own during the penalty kicks.

Radford finished with an 11-10 edge in shots, while Liberty attempted one more corner kick (4-3). Despite playing 110 minutes, the two teams combined for just three shots on goal.