HIGHLANDERS SURVIVE SHOOTOUT AGAINST WINTHROP; ADVANCES TO BIG SOUTH TITLE MATCH

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CONWAY, S.C. – Radford survived a shootout with Winthrop and advanced to the Big South Championship match with a 5-4 penalty kick win in the first Big South Tournament semifinal presented by Musco Lighting on a chilly Friday evening at CCU Soccer Field.

The top-seeded Highlanders (15-2-2), playing in their third straight title match, will face the winner of the match between No. 2 Liberty and No. 6 High Point on Sunday, Nov. 10 at 2:00 p.m. The contest will be carried on ESPN3.

The teams went into the shootout after finishing 110 minutes knotted at 1-1 on goals by Radford's Sally Dillinger and Winthrop's (11-5-3) Anna Simmons. Each team scored in the first two rounds, but a miss to the left by WU's Krystyna Freda proved to be costly as the Highlanders converted the rest of the way and came out with the victory.

The five Highlanders that connected on their penalty kicks in a crucial situation were senior Sydney Golden, senior Sahar Aflaki, junior Kara Wade, freshman Melanie Priestley and senior Rachel Conway.

"We played a great game, and you have to give a lot of credit to Winthrop who scored a very nice goal to tie it up," said head coach Ben Sohrabi. Caitlin Annear did a great job marking the best offensive player in the conference. I'm also proud of the five that stepped up in the shootout. It takes a lot to step up in big moments for your team."

Coming off the bench, Dillinger netted her first collegiate goal to give the Highlanders a 1-0 lead in the 24^th minute. A cross into the top of the 18 by Priestley was one-touched back to Dillinger by Aflaki. Dillinger's half volley to the upper 90 from 25 yards floated over Winthrop keeper Amelia Henderson only 1:11 after the Clifton, Va. native entered the match.

The Highlanders took that lead into the break, holding a 9-6 shot advantage. Senior Che' Brown made two saves, including a diving stop on the low far blast by Kelly Clark in the 18^th minute, which was the Eagles best chance in the first 45 minutes. Brown's counterpart, Henderson, made two saves for Winthrop.

The Eagles, who pressed the entire final 45 minutes, got the equalizer in the 84^th minute. Sammons, in a lot of traffic, headed home a Freda corner kick. The Highlanders had a late chance to win it, but Conway's volley from the top of the box whizzed over the cross bar.

Brown finished with four saves, while Henderson made seven for the Eagles. Radford had a 22-17 edged in shots and 8-7 in corner kicks. Aflaki charted a game-high six shots.

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