MEN'S SOCCER RESUMES ROAD TRIP AT LONGWOOD ON SATURDAY

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RADFORD, Va. – The Radford men's soccer team is flying high following a 4-1 thrashing of West Virginia in Morgantown last Tuesday. Now the squad must refocus and carry that momentum into a Big South clash with in-state rival Longwood on Saturday night.

SETTING THE STAGE
Opponent: Longwood Lancers
When: Saturday, Sept. 29 at 6 p.m.
Where: Longwood Athletics Complex (Farmville, Va.)
Live Stats
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ABOUT THE MATCH-UP
This Saturday, Radford and Longwood will meet for the 28^th time in program history and for the eighth time since the Lancers joined the Big South Conference in 2012. The Highlanders own a 15-8-4 record in the all-time series and have outscored Longwood 16-3 since that first conference meeting in 2012.

The two programs first met in 1984 and have been frequent opponents all the way through last season when they tied 1-1 in double overtime. After 72 scoreless minutes, Dondre' Robinson opened the scoring off a double assist from Victor Valls and Sivert Daehlie. Joshewa Frederick managed to strike back, however, scoring an equalizer in the 86^th minute to earn a draw.

LAST TIME OUT
The Highlanders finally exorcised their demons on Tuesday night, earning their first win of the year in a 4-1 thrashing of West Virginia. Despite being on the road against a quality opponent, Radford looked like the stronger side from the opening whistle and took the lead less than 10 minutes in on a Victor Valls goal. Kieran Roberts, Radford's preseason attacking player of the year award winner, finally scored his first goal of the year to double the lead before freshman Amadou Macky Diop bagged a brace.

Freshman Sam Farrell was given his first career start at goalie and he delivered big-time, making three saves including one on a penalty kick that would have pulled the Mountaineers within two. Radford outshot WVU 18-11 and came home with a well-earned win to move to 1-5 in 2018.

OFFENSIVE RESURGENCE
Before the Highlanders' last game, the preview included a section about their offensive struggles so far this season. After a four-goal break through at West Virginia, Radford's attack is feeling good and ready to build on that momentum. After only one shot reached the back of the net through five games, the Highlanders scored three in the first half alone at WVU and added one more in the second half for good measure.

SCOUTING THE LANCERS
Longwood enters Saturday's match with a record of 3-5 after dropping three of its last four matches. The good news for the Lancers is that they are 1-0 in the Big South thanks to a 4-2 victory at UNC Asheville to begin conference play. The Big South preseason poll tabbed them to finish tied for seventh out of nine teams.

Junior forward Mikel Abando leads the team and is tied in the conference for goals scored with four while redshirt senior Willy Miezan ranks second in the conference with 3.60 shots per game. Jacob Reimers and Miguel Bayma have split time in goal with both players seeing game action in all six games this season. Reimers leads the squad in saves with 15, but Bayma has a better goals against average at 2.46 per game.

Following an abysmal 2017 season when the Lancers went 1-15-2, they have to be feeling good about their three wins through eight matches so far this season. A return to the Big South Tournament is certainly Longwood's biggest goal this year and beating Radford would go a long way towards that goal.

FOLLOW MEN'S SOCCER
For more information on the Radford men's soccer team visit RadfordAthletics.com, follow @RadfordMSoccer on Twitter, 'radfordmsoccer' Instagram or Radford Men's Soccer on Facebook.

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Players Mentioned

#10 Sivert Daehlie: F; 6' 0"; Junior

#7 Kieran Roberts: F; 6' 0"; Redshirt Senior

#16 Dondre' Robinson: F; 6' 2"; Sophomore

#5 Victor Valls: MF; 5' 9"; Redshirt Junior

#0 Sam Farrell: GK; 6' 0"; Freshman

#12 Amadou Macky Diop: F; 6' 3"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#10 Sivert Daehlie
: 6' 0"; Junior
: F

#7 Kieran Roberts
: 6' 0"; Redshirt Senior
: F

#16 Dondre' Robinson
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: F

#5 Victor Valls
: 5' 9"; Redshirt Junior
: MF

#0 Sam Farrell
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: GK

#12 Amadou Macky Diop
: 6' 3"; Freshman
: F