HIGHLANDERS’ LATE PUSH COMES UP SHORT IN 2-1 DEFEAT

Sunday, August 28

RADFORD

7PM

Radford University

0-2

Appalachian State

3-1

Team	1	2	Final F
Appalachian State	2	0	2
Radford	1	0	1

Photo by: Radford Athletics Communications

HIGHLANDERS’ LATE PUSH COMES UP SHORT IN 2-1 DEFEAT

8/28/2016 10:21:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

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RADFORD, Va. – For the second straight game, the Radford women's soccer team was on the short end of a tight one-goal matchup as Appalachian State held on a for a 2-1 decision Sunday night at Cupp Stadium.

All three of the goals came in the first half, with Jasmine Casarez scoring in the 12th minute to give Radford a 1-0 lead. Appalachian State, though, tied it in the 23rd minute and grabbed the lead in the 42nd.

The Highlanders controlled much of the second half and dominated the last 25 minutes, spending much of that time in the attacking third and creating numerous dangerous balls in the box. However, they were unable to get most of the chances on goal as point blank attempts by freshman Nelia Perez and Cassidy Ratliff were blocked and headers in the final minutes by Casarez and Hannah Duff went wide. Radford outshot Appalachian 9-6 in the second half, including four attempts by Jordan Lundin.

Radford started the game strong with Jessica Wollmann nearly scoring on a break in the second minute, but her low shot was deflected just wide of the right post by the Mountaineer goalkeeper.

However, Casarez struck with a sweet shot from the left side of the box for her third career goal. After gathering the ball and pivoting away from a defender, she went top shelf to the far side as the ball caught a piece of the bottom of the crossbar but over the goal line.

Appalachian's Jackie Nieradka tied with a 30-yard shot to the top left corner just out of the reach of Highlander keeper Courtenay Kaplan. The Mountaineers then got the game-decider when a corner kick was deflected away from Kaplan to the far post where Morgan Mosack was there to put it in.

Appalachian State (3-1) finished the game with a 12-11 edge in shots. Kaplan recorded seven saves.

"The margin between winning and losing is very, very small," said Radford head coach Ben Sohrabi. "If you look at the shots, it was a very even game. They capitalized on a mistake and we didn't. But I think we played well tonight and saw a lot of improvement. We were much tougher, much harder, our attacking shape was better and we had better possession. We've just got to find a way to make that a win."

The Highlanders return to action next Sunday when they host USC Upstate at 2 p.m.

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