MEN'S SOCCER SET TO OPEN 2012 SEASON AT UMBC SATURDAY

NOW PLAYING: 2012 Men's soccer season preview

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Radford kicks off its 29th season of intercollegiate men's soccer on Saturday night, when the Highlanders travel to UMBC for a 7 p.m. season opener.

The Highlanders are coming off one of their finest seasons in recent memory – a 9-8-2 overall record and a 4-4-1 ledger in Big South games – they also return 17 starters and a pair of all-conference picks (Luis Grande – Second Team; Dario Redondo – All-Freshman).

In preseason action, Radford won its opener – a 1-0 win at Wake Forest on the strength of Bernardo Ulmo's late goal and good first half play in goal by Ryan Taylor. The Highlanders dropped their other exhibition contest, a 2-0 home loss to JMU.

“It's always our expectation to come out and compete and win games,” head coach Marc Reeves said. “We've had a couple of good weeks of preseason – two great games as well. Wake Forest was an incredible challenge and JMU was a very tough team as well, so it was good for us to see that. The guys have been working hard – we'll see how this season unfolds.

“This first one is vital to try and get off to a good start – UMBC is a tough team and its always challenging to go play someone in their home opener.”

Grande is the top returning offensive threat – the Venezuelan midfielder was second on the team with eight goals and 19 points. Three of his tallies last season were game-winners, most on the squad.

Chel Ho Park Kim, one of the Highlanders' strongest returning players in the middle, distributed eight assists last year – Kim was tied for the top total in the league and ranked among the top-20 nationally.

Taylor has been a constant in goal for the Highlanders, starting 42 games since 2008. In both of his full-time seasons (2009 and 2011), Taylor ranked among the Big South's leaders in goals-against average and saves. Last season, he posted a 1.43 GAA and 43 saves in 14 starts.

Redshirt junior James Jordan joins Grande and Taylor as captains – Jordan started in every match as a middle back last season after sitting out all of 2010 due to a knee injury. Jordan was a Big South All-Freshman selection in 2009.

Worth watching is the Highlanders' play in the second half – Radford outscored its opponents 21-10 in the final 45 minutes a season ago.

Saturday night's meeting with UMBC is the 10th all-time between the programs. The suburban Baltimore school is a former Big South member (1992-98). The Retrievers were picked to finish fourth in the America East Conference – they started strong in 2011 with a 7-3-3 record overall (4-0 in league play) before injuries slowed their season.

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