MEN'S SOCCER BUILDS EARLY LEAD, BEATS ADELPHI 4-2

BOX SCORE HIGH POINT, N.C. – Radford took control of the game with three first half goals, got contributions from four different scorers, and withstood Adelphi's second half rally for a 4-2 win on Sunday afternoon in the Flash Gordon Motors Invitational at High Point University.

Joe Mayer had the game's opening score ('9) and an assist for the Highlanders (2-0-1), and the first collegiate goal for Chel Ho Park Kim late in the first half ('43) proved to be the game winner. Bernardo Ulmo scored a first half goal ('16) and Matt Janssen added insurance ('89) for Radford. Luis Grande assisted on the first and final goals of the game.

“We started with much better energy today and scored two very good goals pretty early on," head coach Marc Reeves said. "Both Joe and Bernardo took their chances after good team buildup play. I was happy that Chel was able to get his first goal for RU as he works incredibly hard for the team and is a quality player and person with a desire to improve.”

Ryan Taylor was solid in goal for the Highlanders – he made six saves, with three in each half.

Omar Edwards had both goals for Adelphi (0-4-0) – his strikes came less than a minute apart in the second half. He got the Panthers on the board in the 58th minute, then scored again 51 seconds later to trim Radford's lead to a goal, at 3-2.

The first half was the difference – Radford jumped on the board early and took a 3-0 lead to the halftime break. With 8:48 gone in the match, Grande played a ball ahead to Mayer, who slipped in behind the defense and capitalized on a one-on-one opportunity, scoring his first goal in a Radford uniform.

Less than seven minutes later, Mayer fed the ball to Ulmo, who buried a shot from the right side of the penalty area to give the Highlanders a 2-0 lead.

Park Kim struck with time winding down in the opening half – he took a feed from Dario Redondo and fired a shot from 12 yards out that hit off of Adelphi goalkeeper Ahmad Salamah and bounced over the goal line to extend the Radford advantage to 3-0.

Adelphi put three of its four first half shots on frame, but the Panthers were unable to beat Taylor.

After back-and-forth action in the first 10 minutes of the second half, Edwards scored the first of two quick goals when he flicked in a header in the 58th minute. Shortly after his first strike, Steve Rivera sent a cross from the right side towards the goal and Edwards finished with another header to make it a 3-2 lead for the Highlanders.

“We prepared at halftime for the Adelphi reaction, but credit to Coach Aquista and his group for coming out hard and getting the two goals to get it back close," Reeves said. "We had plenty of chances to build on the score line and separate ourselves. But our choices, final ball or finishing, were not good enough. It is great to win and score four goals but hopefully we can learn from this performance and become a better group.”

Radford responded following the goals and outshot Adelphi 9-1 the rest of the way. The Highlanders added insurance in the 89th minute when Grande fed Janssen, who shot from 20 yards out and scored to wrap up the game.

The Highlanders return to action next Saturday (Sept. 8) with a 7 p.m. contest at East Tennessee State.

“We are thankful to High Point University soccer and all their support staff and administration for having us part of their quality tournament and obviously we are pleased to pick up two wins from the weekend," Reeves added. “ETSU is an excellent and well coached team that will present another tough road challenge for our group”

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