NOW PLAYING: Inside Radford Sports (Nov. 2, 2011)

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RADFORD, Va. – Top-seeded Radford women's soccer will take on No. 8 UNC Asheville Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the 2011 Big South Tournament at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston, S.C.  Game-time is set for 2 p.m.
 
The Highlanders earned the top seed with a 4-0 blanking of VMI last Tuesday.  Radford garnered its second straight regular season title and third in program history.  In addition, it will mark the second time (1999) Radford will play as the No. 1 overall seed.
 
At Blackbaud Stadium in the postseason, Radford has compiled a 4-2-2 record and won the championship in 2002, advancing to its third NCAA tournament at the time.  In quarterfinal matches, Radford is 7-5-3 overall.
 
Against UNC Asheville on Oct. 1, Radford earned a tough 1-0 victory.  No. 26 Kara Nay's (Montclair, Va./Forest Park) strike ironically came 26 seconds into the match on a cross from Julie Ruh'e (Monrovia, Md./Urbana) into the box and she finished top shelf.  With the win, Radford tied the Cupp Stadium record with five home shutouts, where it went on to blank the opposition seven times this season. 
 
Ruh'e continues to pace the club in scoring with seven goals and also has a team-best five assists.  Sophomore Sahar Aflaki (Gainesville, Va./Battlefield) is second with five goals.  Defender Sydney Golden (Lexington, Ky./Paul L. Dunbar) has tallied five assists as well. 
 
The defense has been instrumental in the Highlanders' success this year.  Along with goalkeepers Lisa Lubke (Columbus, Ohio/St. Francis DeSales) and Che' Brown (Manassas Park, Va./Manassas Park), Tyler Drake (Palmyra, Va./Fluvanna County) anchors the backline, along with Golden, Stephanie Herb (Fairfax Station, Va./Robinson Secondary) and Megan Rhodes (Blacksburg, Va./Blacksburg).
 
SCHEDULE
Thursday, Nov. 3 - Quarterfinals
Match 1:  No. 4 seed High Point vs. No. 5 seed Liberty, 11:30am ET
Match 2:  No. 1 seed Radford vs. No. 8 seed UNC Asheville, 2:00pm ET
Match 3:  No. 3 seed Campbell vs. No. 6 seed Gardner-Webb, 4:30pm ET
Match 4:  No. 2 seed Winthrop vs. No. 7 seed Charleston Southern, 7:00pm ET
                                                                                                                                                                                                
(The bracket has been adjusted to allow the host institution to play in the late match on the first day).
 
Friday, Nov. 4 - Semifinals
Match 5:  Match 1 winner vs. Match 2 winner, 4:30pm ET
Match 6:  Match 3 winner vs. Match 4 winner, 7:00pm ET
 
Sunday, Nov. 6 - Championship
Match 7:  Match 5 winner vs. Match 6 winner, 2:00pm ET